Under Siege
by 0nfateswings
Summary: Yumi's grades are slipping so her parents have asked a visiting cousin to tutor her. Can Yumi keep Suichi Minamino at arm's length and still manage to help Team Lyoko fight off Xana's latest attacks? CLxYYH
1. the Siege part1

***DISCLAIMER: I do NOT own Code Lyoko or Yu Yu Hakusho***

_author's note - due to my recent obsession over CL and reading a bunch of YYH fanfics, i decided to do a crossover. i know, very odd and well... whatever. this story came to me when i couldn't fall asleep last night and i had fun writing it. it's going to be pretty short (i plan to making it only 3 chapters long). Enjoy and please tell me what you think! :D_

___P.S. - this story is set in 4th season of Code Lyoko before Jeremy creates the Skid and after the Three Kings saga in Yu Yu Hakusho_

* * *

**Under Siege ****(part 1)**

"Yumi."

"Yes, dad?"

"We need to talk."

"About what?" asked Yumi as she sat down at the breakfast table. Her mom had made Miso Soup for breakfast and Yumi was starving.

"Your grades," said her father in a serious tone, making Yumi nearly choke on her soup as her throat decided to not work for a moment.

"Oh…"

"What is going on with you, Yumi? Your grades weren't the best before but they were decent. Now they're an utter disgrace! You're getting a D in history! Your mother and I did not send you to Kadic Academy just so you can waste our money with your nonsense and laziness. What do you have to say for yourself, young lady?"

"Er, well… I, uh –"

Suddenly, her cell phone went off and Yumi whispered a small prayer of thanks to Jeremy for his great timing before picking up. "Jeremy? What's up?"

"Yumi, get over to the Factory. Xana's on the move again."

Yumi looked longingly at her soup but after she weighed the consequences of staying and listening to her dad rant about her grades or run off to Lyoko to save the world, Lyoko was the obvious choice.

_Sorry, Miso soup but I'd rather fight Xana's monsters any day than stick around for dad's lecture._

"I'm coming," replied Yumi before hanging up. She snatched her black, drawstring bag off the ground and leaped to her feet, heading for the door.

"Where do you think you're going, young lady? I'm not finished with you!" snapped her father.

"Sorry dad, I'm going to be late for school! See you tonight!" she called, rushing out the door before her dad could stop her.

It took her about five minutes to get to the Factory. She met up with Ulrich and Odd at the elevator and they descended down to the computer lab together.

"Hey Einstein! Where are we off to today?" asked Odd after the metal doors slid open.

"The Desert region. So far there's no sign of Xana's attack here in reality, but we need to deactivate the tower ASAP before he does something irreversible."

"Gotcha. To the scanner!" said Odd with a wide smile on his face.

"Aelita is waiting for you guys in the scanner room. I've already got your vehicles ready and they'll be waiting for you on Lyoko," said Jeremy, typing away at the supercomputer.

Yumi, Aelita and Odd entered the scanners first, followed by Ulrich. Being virtualized was never fun, but Yumi had gotten used to it. Blinding light surrounded her inside the metal chamber as a loud humming sound of machinery rang in her ear. Just before she was materialized, there was always the huge gust of wind that threatened to throw Yumi into the air and then there was darkness.

A second later, Yumi landed in Lyoko's Desert region. She'd gotten used to the shift between a world with six senses to a world with three – sight, sound, and touch, though touch was limited to pain, and physical objects. Lyoko didn't have any smells or weather so you couldn't feel the heat, even if they were in a desert.

Once Ulrich joined them, everyone hopped onto their respective vehicles. Yumi and Aelita got on the Overwing while Odd hopped on the Overboard and Ulrich took the Overbike. Together, the four of them raced off to the activated tower that wasn't far from where they were.

"Okay, watch out guys. I count five monsters up ahead, guarding the tower," said Jeremy in a disembodied voice.

"Look! There's William!" said Aelita, pointing over Yumi's shoulders.

"Great, that's all we need. Another road block," muttered Yumi. "What's Xana planning this time?"

"No clue, actually," said Jeremy. "I've been monitoring the news and nothing out of the ordinary has been happening. And there's no polymorphic specters lurking around… at least, not yet."

Yumi frowned. "Hmm…"

"Hey, maybe we finally got the drop on Xana for once," said Odd cheerfully. "Lighten up guys! This mission will be a piece of cake."

Odd led the attack, firing his Laser Arrows at the three Krabs and luring them away while Ulrich took on the two Tarantulas. Yumi and Aelita faced off against William, with Yumi in front, protecting Aelita.

"One day, we'll bring you back, William. But until then, you're going down! Hiyaa!" Yumi threw her Tessen fans in a wide circle. William blocked one of them but her second one got him in the back, making him drop his sword.

"Go, Aelita! I'll keep William busy," said Yumi, catching her fans as they spun back to her.

Aelita nodded and ran while Yumi charged William. But suddenly, the Xana-possessed boy vanished into black smoke and shot forward, between her legs. Yumi looked back in time to see William emerging out of the smoke again and deliver a swift kick to her lower back, sending Yumi flying across the field and into Ulrich.

"Ow! Yumi!"

"Sorry," said Yumi, getting back to her feet.

"It's okay. How about a trade?" suggested Ulrich as he turned to face William.

"Fine with me." Yumi threw her fans and succeeded in taking out one of the two Tarantulas.

Ulrich used his Super Sprint and disappearing in a blur of yellow, surrounding William, who was defenseless. His sword laid a few meters away and Ulrich had split himself into three copies. They attacked at once, six swords converging onto one target. But at the last second, William summoned his sword off the ground. The huge blade zoomed through the air, taking out the original Ulrich, as it came into William's hand.

"Ulrich – ow!" Yumi had taken her eyes off the Tarantula for one second and was hit by its laser. Yumi flipped back onto her feet and quickly took out the Tarantula before turning to face William.

"You'll pay for that one," she growled and threw her fans at him.

This time William managed to destroy both her fans with a powerful swing of his sword.

"Damn." Yumi back flipped away as William charged her. She was on the defensive and resorted to using her acrobatics to avoid damage; but without her fans, she couldn't attack.

"Incoming!" shouted Odd as he flew in on his Overboard. "Laser Arrow!"

With three well-aimed arrows, Odd managed to defeat William, causing him to vanish in black energy.

"Thanks Odd. Wow, did you beat those three Krabs already?"

"Yup. No sweat. They were a piece of cake – crab cakes that is." Odd smiled at his own joke.

Yumi rolled her eyes.

"Aelita's in the tower, guys. She's just deactivated it. I'm devirtualizing you guys now," said Jeremy.

* * *

**oo00oo000oo00oo**

* * *

The four of them rode the elevator up to the computer lab where Jeremy was waiting in front of the supercomputer. "Good job, you guys. That was fast work."

"Yup. Nothing like a morning trip to Lyoko to kick some Xana monster butt!" said Odd, cheerfully. "You know, I'm starting to get used to this routine. I mean, it's the third day in a row that Xana attacked before breakfast. I'm starving!"

"Odd has a point. What's up with Xana?" asked Yumi. "Three activated towers, all around the same time, and not a sign of him in the real world… it just doesn't make sense."

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that too," said Jeremy. "It's really strange how Xana seems to be activating towers at random with no real motivation."

"Maybe he's just bored," suggested Odd. "Old Xana can't think of anything evil to do so he activates a tower and sends monsters after us to pass the time."

"Odd, Xana is a computer program. He doesn't get bored," said Jeremy. "No, Xana's plotting something… I just know he is."

"Well, when you figure it out, call me. I'll be in my room trying to catch up on all the classes I've missed this week. Man, if these attacks keep up, I'm going to flunk a grade," complained Ulrich.

"Yeah, no kidding. My dad's been on my back about my grades. If I don't study and pass the next exam, my parents are going to ground me," said Yumi with a hand on her waist. "No TV, no computer… and they might even take my cell phone away! How am I supposed to keep in contact with you guys when I'm not at school?"

"Yumi's right. We'll be one player short and if my grades drop any more, my dad might pull me out of Kadic. Then we'll really be in trouble," muttered Ulrich.

"That's it!" exclaimed Aelita suddenly. "That's Xana's plan!"

When everyone just gave her blank stares, she cleared her throat to explain. "Xana is trying to break us up – to separate and weaken us. He must have looked into William's memory and used his knowledge of our world to attack us where we're most vulnerable."

"Of course! Our parents!" exclaimed Jeremy, catching on. "If Xana keeps attacking us every day, we'll be forced to skip school and fight him on Lyoko. And since most of us aren't in very good standings – grade wise –in the first place, it won't be long until our parents get called in and separate us."

"But couldn't we just return to the past?" asked Odd. "Then our parents won't be a problem."

"Hey, don't forget, Odd, every time we turn back time, Xana gets stronger," said Ulrich.

"Ulrich, right. If Xana attacks every day, we can't redo every day or soon Xana will be too powerful for us to stop," said Jeremy.

"Then what do we do, Einstein? You're the brains of the operation here," said Odd, crossing his arms.

"We have no choice. We'll have to hold out through this siege. Everyone needs to step up in their grades. We can't afford to lose anyone. Aelita and I'll tutor you guys if we have to."

"Thanks, Jeremy. But I think it's going to take a miracle to get my history grade out of the gutter," said Yumi dejectedly.

"And my math grade," muttered Ulrich.

"All right. Starting today, we all have to promise to work twice as hard in school, agreed?" asked Jeremy, surveying his friends.

Everyone nodded. "Agreed."

"Okay, I'll launch a return to the past since we've missed a whole morning of class," said Jeremy, quickly typing in the codes to the program. "Return to the past, now!"

* * *

**oo00oo000oo00oo**

* * *

"Yumi."

"Hey, dad," said Yumi taking her seat at the breakfast table. Before her father could launch into his speech about her grades, she quickly cut him off. "Dad, I know my grades have been slipping. I'm sorry. I promise I'll work harder. I've already arranged to have Jeremy tutor me. I'm sorry for letting you and mom down."

Her dad gaped like a fish out of water at her unexpected words, but finally managed to compose himself. He cleared his throat, "Ah hem. Well, I'm glad to hear that you're taking responsibility of your school work – or lack of. There's also something else we need to talk about."

"What is it, dad?" asked Yumi, curiously as she sipped her Miso soup. She had not expected there to be a part 2 to her dad's speech.

"Do you remember your cousin, Kokoda, and your uncle, Hatanaka, from Japan? Well, your uncle recently remarried and he's bringing his new family here to visit next week. They'll be staying in the guest room upstairs."

"Oh… um, how long are they going to be here?" asked Yumi, surprised. She hadn't seen Kokoda in a long time – nearly three years if her memory was still working. She did recall her mom flying over to Japan to attend the wedding about a year ago. Yumi and her brother, Hiroki, had school so they couldn't go, and her dad had to stay because of work so her mom went alone. Uncle Kazuya Hatanaka was her mom's oldest brother and Yumi had been surprised that he had decided to remarry at such an old age. Kokoda was in the same grade as she was and he'd been born when her uncle was in his late thirties.

"Uncle Hatanaka said they'll be staying for a week and a half. He's also here on business for his company but he thought his sons would enjoy a vacation in France."

"Sons? I thought Kokoda was an only child," said Yumi.

"He was, dear, until his father remarried. Your aunt, Shiori Minamino, also has a son named Suichi. So you and Hiroki have to be nice to him since he's new to the family, okay?"

"Yes, mom," chimed Yumi and Hiroki at the same time.

"Hey mom, how old is Suichi? Is he my age?" asked Hiroki excitedly. "It'd be so cool if we could play video games together."

"Sorry, Hiroki, but Suichi is actually in his last year of high school," said their mother as she sat down to eat breakfast.

"Aw, man!" pouted Hiroki. "That's lame. He's even older than Yumi!"

"Yes, he is… and according to my brother, he's the number one in his high school," said their mother.

"Hmm, really?" asked Yumi's father, setting down his newspaper and looking thoughtful. "Well, I'm sure Suichi wouldn't mind helping Yumi with her school work then."

"Dad!" exclaimed Yumi. "I told you I got it covered! Jeremy said he'll tutor me so I don't need him to do it too, okay? Besides, he's supposed to be on vacation. I doubt he wants to spend all this time teaching me history."

"She's right, honey. It'd be awfully unfair to the boy to waste his vacation when he should be out seeing the sights," said Yumi's mom.

Yumi's father sighed. "All right. Forget what I said… but your grades better improve Yumi, or I will find you a private tutor and ground you until your grades pick up, understood?"

"Yup, thanks dad!" Yumi finished her soup and kissed her dad on the cheek. "Okay, I'm off to school!"

"Have a good day!" called Yumi's mom as Yumi rushed out the door.


	2. the Siege part2

_author's note - okay part two is basically written like an episode so it's SUPER long compared to part one. part three will also be about this long so get used to it. You're going to be here a while xDDD anyhoo, hope you enjoy this crossover because i had alot of fun writing it. FINALLY finished watching all of Code Lyoko and let me tell you, those episodes are not easy to track down online. PHEW! man i had my work cut out for me but anyhoo, i'm done and this story is the result of my week-long search. Enjoy and please let me know what you think! :D_

* * *

**The Siege (part 2)**

" – the second world war began in 1939 and lasted until 1945. It evolved all the great powers and was between the Allies and the Axis alliances. Now, there are many things that added to the beginning of this war –"

"Jeremy –"

" – but the main date of the beginning of this war was on September 1, 1939 when Germany invaded Poland –"

"Jeremy, I –"

" – resulting in France and Great Britain to declare war on Germany two days later. This essentially dragged in Germany's allies, known together as the Axis Power and –"

"JEREMY!" Yumi snapped, slamming her hands on the table, startling everyone in the room. Odd nearly fell out of his chair after being suddenly awakened from his nap and Ulrich fumbled with the Gameboy SP he'd been playing as it threatened to slip out of his hands.

"Er… is something wrong, Yumi?" asked Jeremy, tentatively.

"Yeah. You've been talking non-stop for the last hour and all I've heard was _blah blah blah_," Yumi grumbled and cursed under her breath as she banged her head on her notebook. "Urgh! Why can't I get this stuff?"

"I'm sorry, Yumi. I guess, even though I'm a genius I'm not very good at the whole tutoring thing," said Jeremy.

"No, it's not your fault, Jeremy. It's mine. As soon as anyone starts talking about history my brain goes to sleep. I wish I could just download the information into my brain or something," Yumi muttered with her head down, feeling exhausted. She let out a weary sigh and closed her eyes to try and calm her frustration.

"Maybe it would help if you weren't so tired all the time," said Jeremy, closing Yumi's history textbook, which had been sitting in his lap the whole time. "How much sleep have you been getting?"

"Close to none, thanks to Xana," said Yumi irritably. "Yesterday he attacked at 3 am! And I had a test that day! I just know I flunked it for sure and now my parents are going to hire a tutor and ground me until my grades go up."

"I'm with Yumi. I don't know how much longer I can take all these attacks," said Ulrich from the floor. He turned off the Gameboy SP and tossed it onto Jeremy's bed. "I hate to admit it but Sissi is getting better grades than me, and that's disturbing all on its own. If my dad sees my report card, he's going to come in and drag me home!"

"No offense, Jeremy but your tutoring sessions haven't exactly been helpful," said Odd, wiping the drool from his mouth. "Sure you and Aelita have been a great help in catching us up on homework, but when it comes down to taking tests, we're on our own."

"And Xana's attacks always occur either when we're in the middle of class or in the middle of the night, when we need our sleep. Hiroki almost caught me sneaking out this morning," said Yumi.

"Hmm… yes, Xana is really hammering us this time. I still haven't come up with a way to counter his attacks. We haven't launched any return to the pasts lately so he hasn't gotten any stronger, which is good for us –"

"Really? How so, Einstein? I'm starting to see double from sleep deprivation!" complained Odd.

"Hey, has anyone seen Aelita?" asked Ulrich, glancing around Jeremy's room.

"No… I didn't even notice she left," said Jeremy with a worried frown.

"Yeah, me neither," said Yumi. She got up and headed for the door. Just then, Aelita came in, carrying a large stack of papers in her arms.

"Hey, guys!"

"Aelita! Phew! You had us worried there, princess," said Odd as the tension in the room dissipated. "We thought you disappeared or something."

"Nope. I just went to my room to finish these. Here you go!" She handed a stack to Odd, Ulrich, and Yumi.

"Er… what is this, exactly?" asked Ulrich. "And why do they have our names writing on them? They kind of look like exam papers."

"They're my notes. I've been organizing and revising them so that you guys can study off of them. Each of your notes are tailored to your needs. Ulrich, yours is focused mainly on math while Odd is focused on science. As for Yumi, Jeremy took the liberty of studying all your textbooks and compiled them into notes. I just revised, organized, and edited his work so that they're more comprehensible – you know how his handwriting is," she whispered the last part in an undertone to Yumi.

Both girls giggled and Yumi couldn't resist hugging the pink haired angel. "Thanks Aelita! You're the best! And you too, Jeremy!" Yumi got up and hugged him too.

"Aw, it was nothing," said Jeremy, pushing his glasses higher on the bridge of his nose. "I had some extra time on my hands – mainly because I can't think of a way to counter Xana except by diving into the Network and going after him."

"So how's that plan coming along?" asked Ulrich flipping curiously through his notes.

"Uh… not so good. Aelita and I are still working out the basic structure of the program. We haven't even begun to write the functions necessary to construct a vehicle capable of taking you guys safely through the Digital Sea," said Jeremy, turning back to his computer. "For now, all we can do is hold on. I'm sure Aelita and I can finish the program by the end of the week."

Yumi sighed. "If only you could finish it by tonight and put a stop to all these attacks," she muttered remembering what day it was.

"Why's that Yumi? Something going on tomorrow?" asked Odd.

"No… more like tonight. My relatives from Japan are flying in and they're staying at my house for the next week and a half. My mom wants me to be the good host and show them around town after school tomorrow."

"Whoa. That's a major bummer," said Odd.

"Yeah, no kidding. And I can't just ditch them if Xana decides to show his ugly face again on Lyoko," added Yumi. "Looks like you guys will have to go without me tomorrow."

"No problem, Yumi. We can handle it," said Odd giving her a thumbs-up.

"Yeah, you just keep an eye out for Xana in the real world and we'll take care of things on Lyoko," said Ulrich.

"Thanks, guys. Okay, I better be off. I have to help make dinner because my mom and dad are going to the airport to pick up my relatives."

"All right, see you Yumi!"

* * *

**oo00oo000oo00oo**

* * *

"Hello, mom?"

"Hi Yumi! We're almost home. Is the table set?" asked Yumi's mom over the phone.

"Yup, all set," said Yumi, placing the last pair of chopsticks neatly next to the plate.

"Good. Did Hiroki clean up his room?"

"Not sure mom, but I can check."

"Okay, make sure he does. Love you, dear."

"Love you too, mom. See you soon." Yumi hung up and hurried upstairs to check on her little brother. "Hiroki! Did you clean your room?"

"Er, sorta?" said Hiroki, looking slightly guilty.

"Okay, what is it now, twerp?" said Yumi standing in the doorway with her hands on her waist.

"I, er, kinda spilled –"

Yumi pushed open the door to his room and gaped. "You spilled paint on the walls? How the – Never mind, just get a towel and wipe that stuff off, now!"

"I've been trying, sis but it's not working." He held up his wet towel to prove it.

"Argh! We don't have time for this, Hiroki! Where are your Galatic Warrior posters? We'll use them to cover up this mess."

"What? But Galatic Warrior is so two years ago! I don't want Kokoda and Suichi to see those on my walls!"

"Would you rather have mom see the new paint job you gave your room?" asked Yumi, crossing her arms and cocking an eyebrow.

Hiroki gulped, visibly paling. "Er…"

"Didn't think so. Get moving and find those posters. I'll get the tape," said Yumi and headed for her room.

She rummaged through her drawer and had just found a roll of scotch tape when she heard the garage door rumble open.

"Oh no! They're back!" she exclaimed and ran down the hall, tossing the tape into Hiroki's room. She heard him yelp as the tape smacked him in the face but she just continued running while saying, "Mom and dad are back. Hurry up, Hiroki! I'll stall them."

Yumi had just cleared the stairs when she heard voices drawing closer to the front door. She quickly dropped by the dining room, making sure the table was perfect before rushing to the door to unlock it for her parents. Her dad entered first, carrying the luggage and Yumi helped her dad set the heavy suitcases in the living room, which was on their left, so they wouldn't get in anyone's way.

"How was the drive, dad?" she asked.

"Good, no traffic and their plane arrived on time. Where's your brother? He should be down here greeting our guests."

"Oh, Hiroki is still upstairs – you know, last minute clean up," she whispered.

Yumi's father sighed but nodded in understanding. "Yes, clean rooms were never my forte either," he muttered. "Okay, go great your aunt and uncle. I'll take these up to their rooms and check in on Hiroki."

"Okay."

Yumi moved back to the parlor where her relatives were talking with Yumi's mom and admiring the house. Uncle Hatanaka hadn't really changed much. He was a short old man, with thinning gray hair and a kind wrinkled smile. Next to him was his wife, Shiori. She looked like she was around Yumi's mom's age. She had long black hair and warm black eyes. She was a frail looking woman with a soft, loving voice.

"Oh, this is my daughter, Yumi," said Yumi's mom upon Yumi's entrance. "Yumi, come over and great your aunt and uncle."

"It's nice to meet you. Welcome to our home," said Yumi, bowing.

Her aunt and uncle bowed back. "My, Kazuya has told me a lot about you, Yumi. You're a really pretty girl," said Shiori, smiling kindly.

"Thank you, Auntie," said Yumi, feeling slightly embarrassed.

"Where's Hiroki?" asked Yumi's mom.

"Oh, he's… er –"

"Right here, mom!" exclaimed Hiroki, rushing down the stairs. "Hi Uncle! Hi Auntie!"

"Hiroki! You need to greet them properly. Stand still and bow to them," snapped their mother.

Uncle Hatanaka chuckled and patted Hiroki on the head affectionately. "It's okay. He must be too excited to see us to stand still and bow, right Hiroki?"

Yumi watched in surprise as her uncle lifted Hiroki up and hugged him. "Wow! You've grown a lot, Hiroki! You're a big boy now!"

"Yup! I'm in 6th grade now! Yumi and I go to the same school!"

"Wow! Aren't you a smart fellow?" teased their uncle.

"Why don't you all come into the dining room? Dinner will be ready in just a minute," said Yumi's mom, leading the adults to the dining room.

Yumi hung back and finally spotted her two cousins. Kokoda smiled shyly and waved nervously. He was a thin boy with short black hair and dark brown eyes, like his father. He was wearing baggy jeans and a yellow polo with a red stripe across the middle. He spoke in a casual tone and he was some-what of a gamer. Yumi recalled Hiroki and him playing video games last time they were together, but that had been a long time ago.

"Hi Yumi! Long time no see."

"Yeah, you too, Kokoda."

"Let me introduce you to my step-brother, Suichi. Suichi, this is Yumi, your new cousin," said Kokoda with a smile.

Yumi bowed to Suichi, who bowed back. The guy was much taller than both Yumi and Kokoda. Unlike his step-brother's baggy looks, Suichi wore a wrinkles, white dress shirt tucked neatly in tan slacks – also wrinkless. His vibrant red hair and startling green eyes made him stand out even more against his new family. Yumi wondered where he got his looks from because it definitely wasn't from his mother.

"It's nice to meet you, Yumi-san," he said in a very polite tone. "Your house is very beautiful."

"Thank you. And you can just call me Yumi," she said, feeling slightly awkward with his formalities. "Er, so… who's hungry?"

"I am!" said Kokoda with great enthusiasm. "Man, plane food just can't compare to real food. What's for dinner?"

"Um, we got dumplings, some chicken, Unagi, and Miso soup too."

"Excellent! I'm starved! I can smell the chicken already! What about you, Suichi?" asked Kokoda.

"Yes, I'm famished. Let's eat," smiled Suichi.

Dinner was very formal. Yumi made light conversation with Kokoda and Suichi while the adults talked about politics and work. Yumi discovered that Suichi was a very intelligent person. He was like a Japanese version of Jeremy – top grades in every subject – and had been offered many scholarships from all the prestigious universities in Japan. When Yumi asked him where he planned to go, he said that he was actually going to take a different route and work in his step-father's company.

Yumi arched a brow in surprise. She didn't think a kid fresh out of high school would want to jump into the business world that quickly.

Kokoda soon changed to topic to the latest video games, which Hiroki quickly took up and they began a feverish conversation over which game was better – Alien Wars I or II.

Yumi rolled her eyes and ate her meal in silence, choosing to watch the fight from the sidelines.

"So, what is it like to go to school in France, Yumi?" asked Suichi from across the table.

"Um, it's okay. School's a drag, no matter what country you're in, but the friends are the ones that make the difference."

"Very true. So what grade are you in, again?"

"I'm 9th grade."

"Wow, so a few more years and you'll be off to college."

"Yeah… if my grades don't drag me down a grade level," she muttered softly under her breath.

Suichi blinked in confusion and Yumi was surprised he heard her from across the table. "Why would you be held back a grade?" he asked.

"Um… well, let's just say I'm not like you. My grades aren't that great…"

"And they're getting worse," said Yumi's father, suddenly joining the conversation. "I saw your last report card, Yumi, and I think it's time for you stayed home and study more. It is obvious your friend, Jeremy isn't helping you improve your grades. I'll find you a tutor first thing tomorrow."

"Ah, but dad –!"

"Yumi, your father's right. Your grades are beyond poor, they're horrendous! Look at Kokoda. He's the same grade as you and he's obviously succeeding academic wise," said Yumi's mom. Yumi glanced at Kokoda, who had suddenly decided to find his soup to be very interesting and avoided everyone's gaze. His cheeks were red with embarrassment at having been brought into a conversation he'd rather stay out of.

Yumi could sympathize with him. Trust her parents to always compare kids with other kids in hopes of motivating them to do whatever the adults want them to do.

"Honestly," continued Yumi's mom, "I don't know what you and that boy are doing in the time you two are supposed to be studying but it is obviously not working."

"Mom, can we not talk about this right now?" asked Yumi, feeling embarrassed for both herself, her family, and her relatives.

"Actually, I think it is a perfect time to talk about this," said Yumi's father. "You should be a model student, like Suichi. Instead, you're near the bottom of your class. It's shameful, Yumi."

_ Okay, that was the last straw!_

"All right, all right! I get it, dad!" snapped Yumi, losing her temper and slamming her bowl down on the table. "I get it, I suck at history and I'm a disgrace. You can stop rubbing it in my face now, okay?"

Yumi stood up and stormed out of the dining room and up the stairs with her parents shouting after her, demanding she get back in her seat. Yumi ignored them and slammed her door, locked it, and then proceeded to shove her face into her pillow, screaming out her frustration.

If only they knew what her life was like – between Xana's attacks and school work, she didn't have any time to rest. She was trying her best! She had been trying for the past week in hopes of bringing her grades back up, but nothing she did seemed to work. No matter how hard she studied, even in-between Xana attacks, she just couldn't remember the names, dates, and events in history.

Geniuses like Jeremy and Suichi were lucky. They didn't have to try and they were already good at everything they did. Yumi, on the other hand, had to struggle just to get a passing grade in history. It wasn't fair… it just wasn't fair.

Yumi sat up and was surprised to find her cheeks wet with tears. She hadn't known she'd been crying and quickly wiped the salty tears from her eyes. No, this wasn't like her. She was strong and independent. She was a Lyoko Warrior. If she can take down a Megatank on her own then she can tackle a history exam – once she got some sleep…

Yumi shook her head, wearily as exhaustion caught up to her. The bed felt soft and inviting. She hadn't gotten any sleep in the last 24 hours. But she still had math homework to do… well, that can wait after a short nape, she decided.

_Half hour… I'll nap for a half hour and I'll finish my math homework…_

Yumi was fast asleep seconds after her head hit the pillow.

* * *

**oo00oo000oo00oo**

* * *

It was several hours later that Yumi woke up to find herself lying on her bed, fully clothed and in the dark. She switched on her bed light and checked her cell phone for the time.

It was thirty minutes to midnight.

Yumi groaned, mentally scolding herself for sleeping for so long and gathered her things to go take a bath. If she hurried, she could finish her bath and her homework and be in bed by 2 am.

She crept silently down the hall, towards the bathroom, but when she passed by the stairs, she heard her mom talking softly with her relatives. Yumi didn't pay them much attention until she heard her name pop up in their conversation. She squatted in the shadows, listening as her mom talked about her.

"Yumi is normally a very good student. I just don't know what has gotten into her lately. Her grades were good until about a year ago. At first it was just one or two tests but recently every class has a near-failing grade! I'm worried, Kazuya. I worry for my daughter's future. If this keeps up…"

"There, there. I'm sure Yumi is doing her very best. Maybe she just needs some help. Didn't you two say you're going to look for a tutor? I'm sure her grades will pick up once she gets some extra help," said her uncle optimistically.

"Maybe, but it'll take more than a day to find and hire a decent tutor. What will she do in the meantime?" asked Yumi's father.

"I can be her tutor," said Suichi suddenly, surprising everyone, including Yumi.

"Oh no, Suichi, we can't ask that of you!" exclaimed Yumi's mom. "You're on vacation! There's no need for you waste your time buried in textbooks. You should use this opportunity to see the sights!"

"I don't mind helping Yumi with her school work. We are cousins after all. That's what family is for, right mother?"

"Of course, Suichi. If you're sure about this then I don't see why not," said Aunt Shiori.

"Heh. Yumi's got nothing to worry about, uncle. Suichi is a great tutor! He helps me with my math homework all the time. He's even better than my teacher!" said Kokoda.

"Oh, I wouldn't say that, Kokoda," said Suichi in a humble voice. "I just like mathematics, that's all."

"Pft. Whatever you say, big bro," said Kokoda, "but everyone knows you're a freaking genius."

"Well, if it's not too much trouble then please, tutor our daughter, Suichi," said Yumi's father.

"Rest assured. I will do my very best to help," said Suichi.

Yumi suddenly heard Hiroki's door opening and she scrambled to her feet and acted like she'd just been passing by when her little brother stuck his head out the door.

"Yumi?"

"Oh, hi Hiroki. Did I wake you?" she asked in a soft whisper.

"No, I was just wondering what you were doing outside in the hallway."

"I was, er, going to take a bath. Good night, Hiroki." Yumi quickly made her way to the bathroom and locked the door. As she waited for the tub to fill up, she thought back on what she'd just overheard.

So Suichi was going to tutor her in history, huh? Well, the guy's going to learn that it's going to take a miracle to get that useless junk into her head.

_It was bad enough I have one genius to deal with. Now I've got another one in my own house for the next two weeks._

Yumi had just sat down in the hot tub when her cell phone went off. Too tired to get out of the tub, she leaned over and stretched as far as she could and managed to pull her PJs off the sink counter. Her phone clattered onto the floor and she scooped it up to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Yumi! Hey, it's Jeremy. Are you free right now? We could really use you on Lyoko. Odd just got devirtualized and Ulrich only has fifty life points left!"

Yumi sighed. Good bye math homework, hello another sleepless night.

"Yeah, I'll be right there." Yumi reluctantly climbed out of the tub full of hot, soothing water and quickly dressed. She returned to her room and locked the door before silently climbed out of her window. She carefully swung down from her roof and onto the front porch and ran as fast as she could in the direction of the Factory.

Unbeknownst to her, Suichi had been watching the girl's silent escape from the living room window with a curious gleam in his emerald eyes.

* * *

**oo00oo000oo00oo**

* * *

"Jeremy, this is getting ridiculous! I'm not getting any homework done, I'm missing nearly all my classes, and on top of that I'm not getting any sleep!" exclaimed Yumi the next day at lunch.

"Yeah, me neither. Except the homework part," said Odd. "How come you didn't finish your homework, Yumi? Didn't you have time between when you went home and the Xana attack?"

"My relatives came over and things got… complicated," muttered Yumi, leaning on one hand and pushing her food around her plate, having suddenly lost her appetite.

"How are they, anyways – your relatives?"

"My uncle and aunt are really nice – and so are my cousins. But it's my parents I can't stand," said Yumi grumpily. "They're always comparing me to _Perfect_ Suichi and how _Perfect_ Suichi is the top student at his high school and has all these big-shot colleges begging for him to go to their school."

"Man, talk about a total nerd – no offense Einstein," said Odd, stuffing his face with today's dessert – chocolate pudding.

"None taken," said Jeremy as he chewed on his brussel sprouts.

"But, hey, he's from Japan, right? I bet their school is a total pushover compared to ours," said Odd cheerfully.

"Hmphf. Quite the opposite, Odd. He's from Meioh Private Academy – one of the toughest private schools to get into in all of Asia. And Suichi got in on a scholarship. That means he was the best of the best ever since he was a little twerp," said Yumi.

"I don't understand why your parents are so concerned over grades. They don't necessary determine your future, do they?" asked Aelita slightly puzzled.

"True, grades can't definitively determine one's future, but they can take you to great heights and help you in the long run," said Jeremy. "Artists, for example, don't necessarily have to be great in subjects like math and science to get into a good art school, but art is only for a talented few. The rest of us have to work hard and study so we can get into a good college and, hopefully, find our calling through there."

"So your parents merely wish for you to have a better opportunity for you to succeed. That doesn't sound so bad. They love you and this shows that they care about your well being."

"Easy for you to say, Aelita. You don't have a dictator father like mine," said Ulrich, sulking back in his chair.

"Or a nagging mother like mine," muttered Yumi.

"But at least you have mothers and fathers," said Aelita, slightly hurt. "I would trade places with either of you if it means getting my father back..."

Yumi and Ulrich looked down shamefully – guilt keeping them silent. They had forgotten Aelita's father was still lost somewhere on the Network and they weren't sure if they could even bring him back.

"Er, let's just let this drop, okay? Look on the bright side, there won't be another Xana attack for the rest of the day," said Jeremy, trying to lighten the mood. "More time to study, right guys?"

"Yeah, I'm _so_ excited. What better way to spend my free time then cramming my nose into a textbook?" said Odd sarcastically.

Everyone's mood didn't improve much as the school day ended. Yumi waved good bye to them as she and Hiroki headed home – supposedly to give her relatives a tour of the town. Ulrich, Odd, Aelita, and Jeremy retired to Jeremy's room, where Jeremy typed away at his computer, consulting with Aelita every now and then on building their submarine ship.

Ulrich and Odd spent their time looking over Aelita's notes and working on their homework, but by the end of the hour, both had given up and moved on to more entertaining activities. They had started playing hacky-sack with a ball of crumpled paper and were passing the ball to one another by bouncing it on their knees and foot, trying to see who could bounce the ball the most.

"Hey Odd, look, a distraction!" pointed Ulrich.

Odd blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

The ball bounced off Odd's head and onto the floor.

"Hah! You lose!" laughed Ulrich. "That was 39. I beat you by two."

"Hey, no fair! That was cheating!"

"Knock it off, you guys. You're supposed to be using this time to study," said Jeremy.

"We were studying –" Ulrich began.

" –until we got bored," finished Odd, shrugging. "Can't be helped. I have a short attention span, you know?"

Jeremy rolled his eyes and returned his attention back to his computer.

"Hey, Jeremy. Is there any way we can stop Xana from attacking us so we can get a good night's sleep?" asked Ulrich.

"I already told you, the best way to stop Xana's siege is for Aelita and me to finish building the submarine so you guys can dive into the Network and go after Xana. But, in the mean time, I have a strange suspicion that we're not the only ones suffering. It must be taking a lot of energy out of Xana to attack us once a day. I think that if we hold out a little longer, we can out last him," said Jeremy.

"How much is a little longer?" asked Ulrich. "Because a little longer might be too late. Finals are coming around, you know that. If Xana attacks in the middle of those…"

"We'll have to drop what we're doing and run to the Factory," said Jeremy.

"But won't that mean we'll fail the year?"

"Oh, I know! Jeremy can do a return to the past so we can redo the whole day! I'll know the answers to all the questions and get an A on the exam!"

"Wait, isn't that technically cheating, Odd?" asked Ulrich.

"Yes, but it can't be helped if the future of the world depends on it, right?" said Odd smiling.

"Hmm… it still doesn't sit right with me. What do you think, Jeremy?"

"I agree with Ulrich. Though we're not actually cheating, we are still cheating ourselves. Those tests are supposed to reflect what we've learned this past year," said Jeremy.

"Well I've learned loads," said Odd.

"Like what?" asked Ulrich.

"Like, how many arrows does it take to bust a Blok."

Aelita and Ulrich rolled their eyes.

"Too bad there's no class for Lyoko or you'd get the only A in your academic career," said Jeremy, shaking his head.

"Hey, Jeremy."

"Yes, Ulrich?"

"What if we left the activated tower alone… just for a little bit, you know?"

"What? What are you saying Ulrich?" exclaimed Jeremy, spinning around in his chair. Aelita and Odd also stared at him like he was crazy.

Ulrich quickly tried to explain himself. "Look, I'm just saying that why don't we not always rush off to Lyoko every time Xana activates a tower? He hasn't really _done_ anything in the real world yet so I think we can spare a little time and let class finish before we run to the Factory, you get me?"

"But if we leave Xana alone like that something could happen," said Aelita. "What if he does decide to attack with a polymorphic specter or something else?"

"Aelita's right. It's too dangerous to leave Xana alone, for even a minute!" said Jeremy seriously. "No, our best bet is to just try and survive Xana's siege."

"Well, if that's how we're going to play I don't think I'm going to be here much longer," muttered Ulrich, sitting down on Jeremy's bed.

"Why's that?" asked Aelita.

"My dad… he's going to be receiving my report card any day now. Once he sees that F in math I'm done for." Ulrich sighed and flopped back on the bed. "It's hopeless. I'm just no good at math."

Aelita and Jeremy's eyes met and both sighed dejectedly. They'd done all they could to help their friends but neither of them made much progress in tutoring Ulrich in math. Odd was basically a hopeless case since his attention tended to wander, but luckily his parents weren't coming into the picture yet so most of their attention had be focused on Yumi's and Ulrich's parents.

"I wonder how Yumi's doing with her history class," said Aelita.

* * *

**oo00oo000oo00oo**

* * *

"All right, Yumi. Where would you like to study – in the living room or the kitchen? Or would you prefer your room?" asked Suichi.

"Er… the living room is fine," said Yumi, dragging her backpack to the coffee table and pulling out her notebook. Suichi had her history textbook in his hands and was currently flipping through it, skimming the chapters.

"Would you two like something to eat?" asked Yumi's mother from the kitchen.

"No thanks, mom," said Yumi as she opened Aelita's notes.

"Thanks for the offer, Auntie," said Suichi with a smile. "It was very thoughtful of you."

"Why thank you, Suichi. Well, both of you do your best!" she said lightly and left them alone.

"So, where should we begin?" asked Suichi with an encouraging smile on his face.

"You tell me. You're the tutor," muttered Yumi unenthusiastically. She unconsciously fingered her cell phone, finding comfort in the cool, smooth plastic in her hand. She'd rather be with her friends fighting off a Xana attack than sitting at home with _Perfect_ Suichi.

Suichi blinked in surprise at her slightly hostile tone but simply smile, his green eyes twinkling in understanding. "Your mother tells me you have difficulties in this area. Would you like to talk about it, Yumi?"

Yumi shrugged. "Nothing much to say. I just don't get history. You can talk all you want but it's just going to go in one ear and out the other."

"Is that how you feel in class when your teacher is lecturing?"

"Pretty much. My friend tried to help me but his method wasn't that much different from the teacher's," muttered Yumi, flipping aimlessly through Aelita's notes.

"Are those your notes?" asked Suichi.

"No – I mean, yes they are but my friend made them for me – to help me study," Yumi clarified, not wanting Suichi to think she cheated or stole someone's notes.

"I see. May I see them?"

"Er, sure." She handed Suichi the stack of notes and sat back to watch as the boy genius flipped through the notes, brows furrowed as he concentrated on Aelita's neat, tiny handwriting. Sunlight was streaming in through the white curtains and dancing off the top of Suichi's head. The light made his hair as red as a rose and the way his skin glimmered in the sun made the guy strangely breath-taking. Yumi had to admit, Suichi was not only smart but beautiful too.

_Man, this guy has everything! Good looks, smart brain… I bet he even has a fan club back home._

"Wow, I must say these are very extensive notes. They're very clear and concise. If you study these, you'll have no problem passing your next exam, Yumi," said Suichi.

"Hopefully, if I can get these words off the page and into my brain," muttered Yumi, taking back the notes.

"Well, how about you give it a try. Study those notes for an hour and I'll quiz you. Does that sound good to you?"

"Yeah… whatever."

Yumi could honestly say she tried her hardest to concentrate and memorize Aelita's notes. Granted they were a lot easier to read then the text book and made more sense than Jeremy's lectures, but she was still having a hard time remembering who did what, where, when, why, and how. And it didn't help the fact that she kept glancing up at Suichi – who was sitting in an armchair reading a small book – and kept thinking, "this is stupid" and "why do I have to put myself through this?"

When the hour was up, Suichi marked the page in his book and set it down. "Well, are you ready Yumi?" he asked, folding his arms neatly in his lap.

"I guess…"

It was safe to say that the quiz was an utter disaster. She only got one out of ten questions right – and that was because it was a True or False question.

"I see we're going to have our work cut out for us," said Suichi, scratching his head. "But don't worry. We'll go at your pace and we won't move on until you fully understand the material, okay?"

Yumi sighed. "Okay, if you like moving at a snail's pace."

"Don't worry, Yumi. It'll take a little while at first, but once you get it, the rest will come naturally to you. Okay, let's begin – the causes of World War II…"

* * *

**oo00oo000oo00oo**

* * *

It was six in the morning and the sun had just risen. The streets were still covered in a thick layer of fog and the street lights were just starting to turn off for the day. Kurama peeked through the curtains of his room to see his human cousin, Yumi, run off, down the street. This was the second time she had snuck out and, while the others hadn't noticed, Kurama's sensitive hearing could pick up every crunch of her tennis shoes as she ran along the sidewalk and rounded the corner.

Yumi Ishiyama was hiding something from her family and Kurama was curious as to what that something was. What could make a fifteen year old human girl sneak out in the middle of the night and at the crack of dawn? Was it something as mundane as a secret boyfriend or was it something more?

Well, whatever that something was, it was obviously the reason behind Yumi's poor academic performance. One session of tutoring told Kurama that Yumi was actually a very intelligent individual and her current disability when it came schoolwork was due mainly to exhaustion. Kurama had taken pity on the girl and ended their tutor session two hours earlier than he'd planned so she could get some much needed sleep.

But now, at the crack of dawn, Kurama had awaken to the sound of his cousin's voice whispering in her room three doors down from his. He easily overheard her one-sided conversation over the phone… Something about a factory and someone named Xana. Yumi had sounded very irritated and groggy from sleep but at the mention of the name "Xana" she was alert and on her feet, dressing at top speed.

Kurama laid awake in bed and listened as the human girl crept down the stairs and squeezed out the front door, managing to not wake any of the humans in the house. But Kurama had heard her and he'd watched her until she was completely out of his sight and hearing range.

His curiosity had been peaked the first night she'd snuck out but he'd managed to subdue it by reminding himself of his new family and the obligations that came with it. But now his wayward cousin was making another mysterious getaway and Kurama was dying to know why. And _technically_, as Yumi's tutor, it was his job to help her – which meant that her secret was his business…

"I'm starting to sound like my former self," muttered Kurama, crossing his arms as he was reminded of his days as Yoko Kurama in Demon World nearly two decades ago. Back then, he'd been a notorious bandit – relying on any means necessary to get what he wanted, including twisting facts and manipulating others. It was only because of a botched burglary attempt that resulted in Kurama fleeing to Human World and hiding inside the infant, Suichi Minamino, until he could recover from his injuries.

Kurama contemplated the thought of going after Yumi and discovering her secret but, in the end, decided against it. He'll find out sooner or later, if he chose to. Besides, he was going to be seeing her again in just a few short hours…

* * *

**oo00oo000oo00oo  
**

* * *

"Hurry!" shouted Ulrich as he led the group through the park. "We've only got three minutes left!"

"Man, Xana really knows how to pick the time to attack!" said Odd, panting as he tried to keep up.

"Hey, at least you guys stopped him before he could do anything, right?" said Jeremy from the back.

"But he hasn't _done_ anything in two weeks!" complained Odd. "Why do we bother deactivating towers when he doesn't do anything with them other then drag us out of bed?"

"Stop complaining, Odd. What's done is done. Now we need to focus on getting to class on time," said Yumi pushing her legs to go faster. "There's the gate!" she pointed up ahead.

"We made it!" exclaimed Aelita in relief, skidding to a halt and doubling over to catch her breath.

"Man, that was a workout," huffed Ulrich. "Who needs Physical Education when we have Xana?"

"Yeah, at least with Xana, Einstein over there won't ditch class," joked Odd, pointing at Jeremy, who was on his knees, trying to get air back into his weak lungs.

"Very – funny – Odd," panted Jeremy. Aelita helped him to his feet and he wiped the sweat from his brow. "Science – Mrs. Hertz – one minute –"

The bell suddenly rang and Jim appeared in the courtyard, yelling at the students to get to class and blowing his whistle.

"All right, I'll meet you guys in the cafeteria for lunch," said Yumi, heading off to her math class.

"Okay. See you, Yumi!" waved the others as they rushed to class.

The four of them filed into their science classroom on the third floor and took up their usual seats by the window. When Mrs. Hertz announced that today they were going to be watching a movie on the evolution of life, Odd cheered and took that to mean it was a free hour and a half that he could dedicate to napping.

They were supposed to be taking notes but the only ones who actually listened to the teacher was Jeremy. Aelita was working under the table on the submarine program using Jeremy's laptop. Odd was fast asleep and snoring lightly even before the opening credits appeared on the big screen.

Ulrich resigned himself to aimlessly doodle on his notebook. His was tired but his body was still rushing with adrenaline so he couldn't follow Odd's example and take a nap. Instead he gazed out the window, wondering vaguely what Yumi was doing. She was probably as tired as the rest of them and just as stressed as Ulrich was feeling. School had become a real hell on earth. He was dreading every day, hoping there wasn't going to be some pop quiz that would further drag his grade down.

The first time Ulrich got a C- on his math test his father had marched onto campus and dragged him into the principal's office to have a "word" with him. That had been the last time Ulrich had seen his dad. They had parted on a very bad note and Ulrich didn't care if they ever made up. He was sick of his dad always expecting nothing but perfection. He'd once flipped over Ulrich getting a B on his kindergarten finger painting project. It was freaking _kindergarten_ for god's sake!

Now, with the grade he was getting, Ulrich would rather jump into the Digital Sea than have to face his father once his report card came out.

Suddenly, Ulrich spotted the principal, Mr. Delmas, and Jim walking under the arches near the courtyard with two strangers. One of them was wearing a brown suit-like jacket, making Ulrich immediately think it was his father. His stomach dropped all the way to the first floor and his heart started pounded in dread. But as soon as the man stepped out of the shadows, Ulrich realized he was being ridiculous. The man looked nothing like his father!

For one thing, the stranger was probably a woman because she had long red hair that fell past her shoulder. She was dressed in a dark brown jacket, tan slacks, and matching brown shoes. A little manly but she was very lean so she still projected an air of femininity.

Next to the redhead, was a gangly boy who looked like he was close to Ulrich's age. He wore baggy blue jeans and a thin, black jacket over a yellow polo-shirt. His hair was short – close to the nape of his neck – and it was jet-black. He seemed in awe with the school. He kept looking up at the buildings while Mr. Delmas talked to him and the woman, waving his hand to indicate which buildings were which.

"Hey, Jeremy, check it out. Mr. Delmas is giving some people a tour of the school," said Ulrich softly, pointing out the window.

"Hmm?" Jeremy leaned over to peer out the window. "Oh, I wonder who they are. Do you think they could be new students?"

"Maybe… you think Sissi will know?"

Jeremy shrugged, returning his attention back to the movie. "Only one way to find out…"

"Psst, Sissi," hissed Ulrich to the girl in pink sitting in front of him.

She turned around and flipped her straight black hair and fluttered her eyelashes. "Yes, Ulrich, dear?"

"Er, I was wondering… do you know who those people your father is taking around are?" he pointed to the window.

"Huh? Oh, yeah, of course. Daddy said a possible new student and his family were coming to school today to see if they want their son to attend Kadic. Daddy said he was going to give them a tour and he wanted me to take the student through the dorms after class. That must be him and his mom," said Sissi.

Before Ulrich could ask more, Mrs. Hertz suddenly looked up from her desk and spotted Sissi with her back to the screen and talking to him.

"Sissi! Turn around and pay attention to the film," snapped Mrs. Hertz angrily.

"Yes, Mrs. Hertz."

And there went Ulrich's only source of information… Oh well, it wasn't like it really mattered who the kid was. At the rate he was going, Ulrich was likely to be kicked or pulled out of Kadic by the end of this school year anyways. No sense in wondering about the identity of someone he was likely to never see again.

* * *

**oo00oo000oo00oo**

* * *

The five of them sat at their usual table for lunch. Today's menu was meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and broccoli with Lime Jell-O as desert.

"Hmm… this meatloaf looks questionable. Do you think it's edible?" asked Yumi, poking the meat warily with her knife like it would suddenly attack her.

"Heh. We'll know soon enough." Ulrich jerked his thumb in Odd's direction, where the blond boy was busy shoveling mouthfuls of meat into his mouth while chasing it down with a hug gulp of milk.

Yumi grimaced. "Odd, that's disgusting!"

"What? The meat's great!"

"Uh… I think I lost my appetite," muttered Yumi, feeling nauseous.

"Great! Can I have it?"

Everyone pushed their plate in Odd's direction. The boy happily piled his plate high with the unwanted meat and began his feeding frenzy noisily.

"What's this green, wiggly thing?" asked Aelita, poking the Jell-O curiously with her spoon.

"It's Jell-O, a form of gelatin. Try it, it's very good," said Jeremy as he pulled out his laptop.

"All right, I'll take your word for it," said Aelita as she scooped a small chuck from the plastic cup and nibbled it. "Hey! You're right. It is good!"

Yumi smiled. "If you like it so much, you can have mine too. I'm not very hungry today."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive. Here." Yumi picked up her package of Jell-O and was about to hand it over to Aelita when the principal walked in… followed by _him_.

Yumi gaped and accidently dropped the Jell-O in Aelita's pile of mash potato, causing it to spatter all over the table.

"Ah! Yumi, my laptop!" exclaimed Jeremy, wiping the gravy and potato off the cover of his laptop. "At least it didn't get on my screen," he muttered.

"What is it, Yumi?" asked Aelita, turning around in her chair to see what Yumi was staring at.

"Its… it's him!" she pointed.

"Hm?" Ulrich also turned around in his seat and spotted the couple Mr. Delmas had been leading around the school earlier. "Oh, them. What about them?"

"What is he – I mean, they –what are they doing here?" she asked.

"Sissi said something about the kid being a possible new student at Kadic. He came here to see how the campus is, I guess. You know the guy?"

"Yeah…. He's my cousin," said Yumi, keeping her head down and hoping they wouldn't notice her.

"Really? Hm… I think I can see the resemblance a little," said Aelita, cocking her head to one side. "He's the one from Japan you were talking about a few days ago, right?"

Yumi nodded. "Stop looking and turn around. I don't want them to see me," she hissed, keeping her head close to the table.

"Why not?" asked Ulrich as he and Aelita did as she asked.

"Because I don't want them to, okay?" she snapped.

"Okay, okay. Chill, Yumi." But Ulrich couldn't help but sneak a peek out of the corner of his eye.

The principal and his tour group moved closer to them and they could soon hear what he was saying.

" – three meals are served everyday at 8 am, noon, and 6 pm. We, here, at Kadic, make sure the students have a healthy diet and the food is always prepared fresh. We have meal plans for both day and dorming students. By the way, Kokoda, are you planning on dorming here?"

Kokoda, the boy with black hair, shrugged. "Maybe. I'm currently staying at my aunt and uncle's house so I might stay with them. But my dad did say that I could dorm here if I wanted to."

"Well, in that case, I'll make sure you get a thorough tour of the dorms. Now, did you say your cousins also go to our school?"

"Yes, our uncle, Mr. Ishiyama highly recommended Kadic Acedamy as an excellent institution for education," said the woman in polite tone that didn't quite sound that female-like to Ulrich.

"Ah, I see you're Yumi and Hiroki's relatives. Well, it doesn't look like they're anywhere in the cafeteria. Uh, why don't I have my daughter Elizabeth find Yumi for you. Elizabeth dear, would you come over here," called Mr. Delmas.

Sissi, who had been sitting at the table behind them, got up and walked briskly over to her father.

"Yes, Daddy?"

"Ah, Elizabeth. This is Kokoda and Suichi Hatanaka. They're Yumi's cousins from Japan. Could you please find Yumi and bring her here?"

"Oh, there's no need, Daddy. Yumi's right over there next to Jeremy and Ulrich," she pointed straight at Yumi, who had tried to duck out of sight but Mr. Delmas already spotted her.

"Oh, thank you, Elizabeth. Um, well, I'll leave you three alone then. Jim, here will escort you to my office after lunch."

"Thank you, Mr. Delmas." Suichi bowed and the two of them made their way across the cafeteria.

"Damn it," cursed Yumi under her breath and pasted a fake smile on her face as they drew up alongside their table.

"Hey Yumi!" greeted Kokoda cheerfully. "This is a really cool school you go to, cousin."

"Hi, Kokoda. Hi, Suichi," said Yumi. "I'm glad you like the school."

"Yeah, it's really neat and way bigger than my school. Hey, are these your friends?" asked Kokoda.

"Yeah. This is Jeremy, Ulrich, Aelita, and Odd." Each of them waved and said "hi" when Yumi said their name. "Everyone, this is my cousin, Kokoda, and his brother, Suichi."

Suddenly, Ulrich choked on his milk and sputtered, "Brother? I thought he was a girl!"

Kokoda burst out laughing. "Oh man, you don't know how many times Suichi gets that. Hah!"

Suichi chuckled good-naturedly. "Yes, many often mistake me as female on first sight but I assure you I am male."

Yumi rolled her eyes. "Could've fooled me," she muttered under her breath.

"May we sit?" asked Suichi.

"Yeah, sure," said Ulrich and he patted the empty seats next to him and Yumi. Suichi sat down next to her while Kokoda sat next to Ulrich.

"So are you really going to come to Kadic?" asked Odd.

"Maybe… it depends on my dad. He's here on a business trip thing and we just came along for the ride. My dad said something about how if he could make a deal of some sort, he would be promoted and put in charge of his company's branch that's located here in France," explained Kokoda. "My mom said that if that does happen, we'll probably move here to support him so she wanted me to take a look at the local schools to see which one I liked."

"That's cool! Well, if you come here, there's lots to do. We recently got a wreck room and there's a TV, a Ping-pong table, and a Foosball table! And it's open every day too," said Odd.

"That's awesome! I can hook my PS2 up to the TV and play Alien Wars II!" exclaimed Kokoda.

Suichi placed a calm hand on his excited brother's shoulder and smiled, "Now Kokoda, mother wanted you to pick a school that you can be academically successful in. You should look to see if the school's teaching method is to your liking, not what entertainments it provides."

"Aw, come on Suichi! They have a TV!" complained Kokoda.

"So, are you coming to Kadic too, Suichi?" asked Yumi, wondering why he was here instead of his mom.

"No. I've decided to finish my schooling in Japan and work in my father's company there. I only accompany Kokoda today because I wanted my mother to relax and spend time with my father."

"Wow, that's very thoughtful of you," said Aelita.

"Thank you – Aelita, was it?"

Aelita nodded blushing slightly. "Yes. Aelita… Aelita Stones."

"Well, we better get going, Kokoda. It was nice meeting you all," said Suichi, getting up.

"Bye guys! Bye Yumi! See you later!" said Kokoda, following his brother out of the cafeteria where Jim was waiting.

"Hey, I don't get why you didn't want your cousin to see you, Yumi. Kokoda is pretty cool. Man, I can't wait to challenge him to the Versus Mode on Alien Wars II! I bet I can whoop his butt in ten seconds flat," said Odd.

"Kokoda isn't the one I was trying to avoid… it was Suichi," muttered Yumi.

"Why's that? He seems like a really mature guy," said Jeremy.

"He's always so polite and acts so much like an adult it's creepy," said Yumi. "I don't know, I get this weird vibe from him… especially when he's tutoring me –oh, yeah Suichi is my tutor right now," added Yumi upon seeing her friends' confused looks, "but anyways, the way he acts is too much like an adult and his eyes are so… so –"

"Beautiful?" sighed Aelita with a strange look in her eyes, causing everyone to look at her funny. "What?"

"Uh, are you okay, Aelita?" asked Jeremy.

"Yes, why?"

"You just said Suichi's eyes were beautiful."

"Well they are. Have you ever seen eyes so bright green before? And he's also really handsome too…" Aelita stared off into the distance dreamily.

"What's gotten into her?" asked Jeremy to the others.

Ulrich shrugged. "Maybe it was the Jell-O. Come on, let's get moving. We have afternoon math class to get to."

"Okay." The five of them got up to bus their trays and headed for class a few seconds before the bell rang.

* * *

**oo00oo000oo00oo**

* * *

"KYAA!"

"What in the world is going on up there?" asked Jeremy as he looked up at the ceiling. He'd been hearing screams and pounding footsteps resonating down to his room all afternoon and it was really irritating. How was he supposed to work on the program to their submarine when people upstairs were threatening to bring the whole building down with their insane racket?

"Maybe they're having a party," said Yumi as she laid on Jeremy's bed, doing her history homework.

Jeremy sighed and glanced at his door. "What's taking Odd, Ulrich, and Aelita so long? I mean, how hard can it be to find a couple of blank CDs?"

"Want me to go upstairs and check on them?" asked Yumi, looking for any excuse to get away from her history homework.

"KYAA! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh!"

Jeremy slammed his fist down on his desk furiously. "Argh! I can't work with all this noise! This is getting ridiculous! I'm going to the computer lab. Tell Aelita to bring the CDs to me there," said Jeremy as he quickly packed his laptop into his backpack and headed for the door.

Yumi and Jeremy parted at the stairs and Yumi made her way to the next floor where the girl's lived. As soon as she stepped onto the landing, she found the hallway packed with girls. They were standing in a circle, giggling and openly flirting with the lone boy in the middle – Mr. _Perfect_,Suichi Minamino.

Yumi stared in confusion at what was going on. Luckily, she spotted Kokoda standing next to Odd a few meters away and she slowly made her way towards them. The two boys were chatting amicably about video games and somehow managing to ignore the swooning throng of girls.

"Hey, what's going on up here, guys?" asked Yumi.

"Oh hey Yumi! Looks like your cousin found some admirers," said Odd, jokingly.

"I can see that." Yumi frowned.

Suddenly, the girls squealed again at something Suichi said and Odd, Yumi and Kokoda were forced to cover their ears to protect their eardrums from bursting.

"Dude! How can he stand all that screaming?" asked Odd.

Kokoda shrugged and dropped his arms once the cacophony subsided to a more tolerant level. "He's probably used to it by now. He has his own fan club back home and those girls are even wilder than these."

"How's that?" asked Odd.

"Do I even want to know?" muttered Yumi.

"Well, for one thing, these girls aren't stalking our house all morning, fighting to be the first one to say 'good morning' to Suichi."

"Not yet, they're not. Give it a few days and I think you might have to build an electric fence around Yumi's house," said Odd. "Man, talk about fan girls."

"Well, Suichi's used to it so it's no big deal to him."

"Don't you ever get fed up with him?" asked Yumi, crossing her arms as she glared at the noisy, stupid girls – which happened to include Sissi. "If I were you, I would have been sick of him by now."

Kokoda shrugged. "I don't mind the girls that much. I actually sympathize with Suichi. It's not like he enjoys this much attention either."

"Really? He looks like he's having a great time with fifty-something girls surrounding him from where I'm standing," said Yumi irritably as she noticed the warm smile on Suichi's face while he talked with the girls.

Kokoda shook his head. "That's how he deals with them. He's a really nice guy. He's really polite and doesn't like to get into conflicts so he just plays nice with the girls, even though he'd rather be left alone. But since he doesn't want to hurt their feelings, he allows them to do as they please – within a reasonable range."

"Hmphf. Sorry, Kokoda but from where I'm standing, Suichi just looks like an obnoxious kid with a big ego," said Yumi.

"Oh? Do I sense jealousy in dear Yumi's voice?" teased Odd.

"Jealous? Of who – those girls?" sputtered Yumi, cheeks flaming. "Why would I –? He's my cousin! I can't be jealous just because a bunch of girls are drooling over Suichi's good looks –"

"Well, technically Suichi isn't related to you at all," mused Kokoda with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "It's only because of his mom that you can call him your cousin. Otherwise…"

"Hey! Whose side are you on?" snapped Yumi, cheeks turning even hotter. "He's your brother!"

"Step-brother," corrected Kokoda. "But you're right. He's my brother so I should go rescue him before those girls devour him. Wait here, please."

Yumi sighed as Kokoda ran off to fetch Suichi. She caught Odd wagging his eyebrows knowingly in her direction.

"What?" she snapped angrily.

"You like him – admit it, you like Suichi."

"He's – My – Cousin! What part of that don't you get? And no, I don't like him!" she growled. "Where's Ulrich and Aelita?"

"Inside I think… Oh wait, Ulrich said Aelita couldn't find her CDs so they went down to our room to get some of his," said Odd.

"Why didn't you go with them?" asked Yumi.

"Cause I ran into Kokoda and then we started talking and I lost track of things." Odd shrugged. "No big deal. Let's go look for them."

"Forget it. They're probably looking for Jeremy right now and he's not in his room," said Yumi pulling out her cell phone.

"Where did Einstein go?"

"To the computer lab. He couldn't work with all the noise," said Yumi as she speed-dialed Aelita. As soon as the pink-haired girl picked up Yumi quickly instructed her to head to the Factory to find Jeremy.

"Okay, Yumi. By the way, Ulrich just got called to the principal's office – I don't know why," said Aelita, sounding worried. "He suddenly got very quiet and I think he's scared. Do you think something's happened?"

"No idea. Leave Ulrich to us, you just get over to the Factory with those CDs okay, Aelita?"

"Okay. See you later!"

"What's wrong with Ulrich?" asked Odd after Yumi hung up.

"I don't know but we're going to find out. Mr. Delmas called him into his office so Aelita's heading to the Factory on her own," said Yumi, pocketing her cell phone. "Okay, let's drop by Jeremy's room so I can pick up my stuff and we'll go see what's up with Ulrich."

"Sounds like a plan."

The two of them headed for the stairs and had just returned to the boy's floor when they heard pounding footsteps behind them. Yumi turned around just in time to see Kokoda rushing down the stairs as fast as he could. He suddenly grabbed her by the elbow as he passed by and dragged her down the next flight of stairs, nearly making her trip.

"Kokoda! W-What are you doing?" exclaimed Yumi, trying to make him stop. "My bag is still up in Jeremy's room –"

"No time for that, cousin!" He yanked her forward, forcing her to keep up or fall flat on her face down the stairs.

"Why not?" asked Odd, who was close behind, followed by Suichi.

"Stampede!" exclaimed Kokoda as they cleared the stairs and ran out into the courtyard. Yumi looked back just as Suichi passed through the doors and saw a huge wave of girls chasing after them.

Yumi gaped. "You've got to be kidding me!"

"I'll go find Ulrich. You get your crazy cousins out of here," said Odd and ran off in the direction of the principal's office.

"Odd –!" But he was already gone. Yumi sighed. "Man, why me?"

"Hey, Yumi? Let's get out of here! I take back what I said earlier, these girls are just as crazy as the girls in Japan – especially that girl named Sissi."

"This way, guys. We'll hide in the library," said Yumi and led them past the arches, towards the only safe haven she could think of. They rushed into the library, receiving angry glares from the librarian, and hurried to the back shelves where they crouched down to hide.

"Think we lost them?" asked Kokoda in a whisper.

"I hope so… Sissi doesn't come here unless she has study hall so I doubt she'll look in here," muttered Yumi. After several minutes of undisturbed silence, she began to relax. "Okay, what the hell did you do, Suichi, to make those girls go crazy?"

Kokoda snorted and rolled his eyes. "He asked if anyone would like to show us out of the dorms since we were leaving. Naturally, all of them 'volunteered'."

Suichi shrugged. "I was merely trying to be polite. We are guests, after all. I just didn't expect them to be so… how should I put this? Enthusiastic?"

Yumi smacked her forehead at that major understatement.

"Look Suichi, you may be my big brother and you may be graduating high school in a few months but you've got a lot to learn about girls. They – Are – Crazy," stated Kokoda, "which is why I stay clear of them."

"I don't think Yumi's crazy," said Suichi, glancing at her.

Yumi's heart began to flutter a little and it made her very confused. What the hell was wrong with her? Why was she getting all giddy when Suichi only _looked_ at her… and said she wasn't crazy – but that was hardly a compliment!

_For god's sake, he's my cousin!_

Yumi shook her head and got up to peer out the nearby window. The courtyard was deserted now and it was a clear path to the school gates.

"Let's go before those girls find us. Here, through the window." Yumi unlocked the window and pushed it open wide enough so that they could slip out.

"I'm going to guess you've done this before," said Kokoda as he stepped forward to go first. Yumi gave him a boost and he was through.

"Your turn, Suichi."

"No, you should go first, Yumi," said Suichi. "I'll help you through."

"That's not necessary –!" But Suichi's hand was already on her waist and he easily lifted her up. Yumi climbed awkwardly through the opening and Kokoda helped her down. Her cheeks were hot, her heart pounding, as she forced herself to avoid looking at Suichi as he climbed through the window.

"Um, okay. Let's go. The gates are this way," said Yumi and without looking back, ran towards the black iron gates.

* * *

**oo00oo000oo00oo  
**

* * *

Jeremy punched in the security code that would unlock the computer lab and stood back as the metal doors slid open. He sighed with relief as the silent, cool room greeted him. The room was lit by the soft green lights from the supercomputer and the hologram in the center of the room. The cooling system was running, creating a gentle humming sound in the room that soothed Jeremy's spirit and dissipated his earlier frustration.

Yes, nothing like working in a place of technological ingenuity to get the mind going, thought Jeremy. The boy made his way to the swiveling armchair and was about to open the file containing the submarine's data when suddenly an alert window popped up on the computer screen.

"What the –?" He opened the window and gasped. "Oh no! Another activated tower!"

Jeremy used the supercomputer to call the others but only Odd and Aelita picked up their mobile. Aelita said she was heading for the Factory and Odd said he was at school but will be on his way as soon as he found Ulrich.

Well, at least some help was on the way, thought Jeremy as he texted Ulrich and Yumi, informing them of the situation. He then started prepping the scanners to transfer Odd and Aelita for when they got here. He was just about to start programming their respective vehicles when another alert window popped up, this time blaring warning alarms too.

Jeremy clicked on it and groaned. "Oh no, Xana's going after the core too!" Jeremy tried calling Yumi and Ulrich again but he kept getting their voicemail. "Come on, guys! Where are you?"

* * *

**oo00oo000oo00oo**

* * *

Ulrich crossed his arms and grudgingly took his seat in front of his father. He knew what was coming. His father was holding his recent report card in his hands and Ulrich could see the veins on his dad's forehead throbbing like they were about to pop. All this added together meant good bye Kadic Academy, hello Hell.

The two of them were sitting in the principal's office so they could talk privately. Unfortunately, that was making Ulrich feel even more cornered than ever since he was alone with his dictator, stressed-out father.

"Ulrich. These grades are inexcusable! A D- in math? I have half a mind to pull you out of Kadic and send you to military school! What do you have to say for yourself?" scolded his father.

But what was there to say? It wasn't like Ulrich could explain to his irrational father that he was constantly fighting in a virtual world to protect mankind from a computer program named Xana, who wants to destroy humanity. His father would probably send him to a mental institution instead of military school.

"Nothing? You have nothing to say to explain why your grades are beyond poor and straight into the pathetic category?" said his father.

"Hey, I'm doing my best, okay. What more do you want from me?" snapped Ulrich, which was the truth.

"A lot more. I expect you to get good grades because let's not forget, I'm the one that's paying for your tuition. And I can see that I've wasted not only my money but also my time. If you'd stopped hanging around with those good-for-nothing friends of your and applied yourself –"

"Hey! My friends have nothing to do with this!" snapped Ulrich, his temper spiking.

"I think they have everything to do with this. The principal has informed me that you and your friends are always running around and skipping classes. They're a bad influence and worthless bunch of brats. If you want to stay in Kadic, then I'm ordering you to stay away from those kids and raise your grades. Otherwise, you'll find yourself in the farthest military school from home!"

"You can't tell me who I can and can't hang out with!" retorted Ulrich, standing up. "Don't you dare call them worthless! You have no right to judge them! You don't even know them!"

"But I do know what's good for you! I'm your father!" shouted the man, getting to his feet.

"Yeah? Then why don't you start acting like one?" muttered Ulrich, shoving his hands into his pocket and kicking the chair out of his way as he head for the door.

"Ulrich Stern, where do you think you're going?"

"Anywhere but here."

"We're not finished yet!"

"Well, I am." Ulrich had barely reached the door when his father grabbed him by the elbow and dragged him back into the room.

"How dare you speak to me like that, you ungrateful brat! You're coming with me, right now!"

"No!" shouted Ulrich, trying to wrench his arm out of his dad's grasp. "Let. Go!" But his father had a death grip on Ulrich's arm and he wasn't budging one bit.

Ulrich struggled as his father dragged him out the door and down the hall. Ulrich fought him the whole way out into the courtyard, not caring if he was making a scene. He half-hoped someone would jump in and save him – Odd, Yumi… hell, even Jeremy would have been a sight for sore eyes. But no one came. All the kids just stood there, staring as his father dragged him off campus and shoved him into the car.

His dad had just shut the door when suddenly Ulrich saw some hazy black blob creep up behind his father. Ulrich tried to warn him but the black blob wrapped around his father and entered his body. Now, looking into his father's pupil-less eyes, he saw the symbol of trouble reflecting back at him.

Xana.

"Now he decides to act?" exclaimed Ulrich.

Ulrich scrambled to the other side of the car but his Xana-fied father moved at a blurring speed and cut him off. He yanked open the door and zapped Ulrich with a ball of electricity. Ulrich shouted out in pain as wave after wave of pain assaulted him. Finally, he surrendered to the darkness and blacked out.

* * *

**oo00oo000oo00oo**

* * *

"Ulrich! Pick up!" shouted Jeremy but still got nothing. "Where could he be?"

Suddenly the metal doors slid open and Odd and Aelita waved in greeting.

"Hey, Einstein. What's up?" asked Odd.

"Bad news. Xana's activated a tower in the Forest sector and he's sent a wave of monsters to attack the core of Lyoko."

"Then we better get going. Where are Ulrich and Yumi?" asked Aelita.

"Neither of them is answering their cell phones. Hey Odd, didn't you say you were going to get Ulrich?" asked Jeremy.

"I was but then I found out he was in the principal's office talking to his dad. Delmas' secretary wouldn't let me in and I didn't know how long they were going to be in there so I just left him a text and got over here as fast as I could."

"All right, I'll try contacting Yumi again. Meanwhile both of you get to the scanners," said Jeremy, returning to the supercomputer.

"Okay, are we off to deactivate the tower or protect the core?" asked Aelita.

"We have no choice but to split up. We're two players down and we have two objectives to complete. Odd, you protect the core in Sector 5; Aelita, you'll go after the activated tower. Both of you need to be extra careful because you may not have backup coming anytime soon."

"Caution is my middle name," said Odd with a smile as the metal doors slid close. Jeremy snorted and rolled his eyes before he continued to type out the functions that would activate the scanners. As soon as Odd and Aelita were in the scanner room, Jeremy launched the virtualization program.

"Transfer Odd." "Transfer Aelita." "Scanner Odd." "Scanner Aelita."

"Virtualization."

Aelita blinked in surprise when she found herself standing on the Overwing as soon as she was virtualized. "Wow, great timing, Jeremy."

"Thanks. The activated tower isn't too far from your current position. Head north and you'll soon see it."

Aelita nodded and rode the Overwing in the direction Jeremy instructed.

Meanwhile, Odd had just entered Sector 5 and was heading for the core room on his Overboard. "Hey Jeremy, how many monsters do I got to face?"

"I count three Mantas and five Creepers. You should keep a lookout for William. I suspect he'll decide to drop by and say hello."

"Oh great, the more the merrier," joked Odd as he entered the core room, guns-a-blazing. "Laser Arrow!"

"Odd! What did I say about being careful?" snapped Jeremy as Odd took out a creeper.

"No sweat, Einstein. This fight is in the bag," said Odd with one hand on his waist.

"Don't get too cocky, Odd. Two more creepers are headed your way."

"I see them, Jeremy. Laser Arrow!"

* * *

**oo00oo000oo00oo**

* * *

Yumi, Kokoda, and Suichi ran through the park and dived into some thick bushes, managing to finally lose the crowd of girls that had somehow followed them out of school.

"Sssh! No one make a sound," hissed Yumi as she cautiously peered through the leaves. The little dirt path was empty and the park was silent. "Looks like we gave them the slip."

"Those girls – are – insane!" huffed Kokoda. "There are the most persistent girls I've _ever_ seen! You owe me big, Suichi. I'm a gamer, not a track-star!"

"I'm sorry to have troubled both of you," said Suichi. "Perhaps I should refrain from coming near the school for the rest of the week."

"Yeah, that would be a good idea…" muttered Yumi and stood up. "Okay, let's head home. Our parents must be wondering where we are. School's been out for almost two hours now."

"Okay, lead the way, Yumi," said Kokoda with his arms behind his head.

Yumi decided to take the long way home due to the fact that the shorter way would result in them passing by Kadic's front gates, which would then lead them to being chased by crazy fan girls again; and Yumi would prefer if they didn't follow them all the way to her house. She did not want fifty girls camped outside her front door just to say 'hi' to Suichi every morning.

Once they were a block away from her house, Yumi began to relax. The streets were relatively empty of people and only a few cars were on the road. They were finally safe and home free.

The three of them had just reached the gate of her house when Yumi realized she didn't have her cell phone on her.

"What the –? Where's my cell phone?" She patted down her black jeans and checked her back pockets but it wasn't there. She quickly slung off her backpack and rummaged around but the mobile wasn't in there either.

"Did you leave it at school?" asked Suichi, pausing to wait for her.

"No, I had it on me the whole time. Where could it be?"

"Would you like to use my cell phone to call it?" asked Suichi, pulling out his cell phone.

"Yes, please." Yumi quickly dialed her phone. She could hear the dial tone but she couldn't hear her ringtone at all.

"Hmm, it must have fallen out of your pocket while we were running," said Suichi. "Let's retrace your steps."

"What? That means we have to go all the way back to the school!" complained Kokoda. "I don't want to be chased by your crazy fan girls again!"

"It's okay, Kokoda. You go on inside. I'll go back to the school by myself," said Yumi. She pulled out her house keys and tossed it to her cousin. "Here, use it to let yourselves in."

Kokoda caught it. "Thanks Yumi!" he said and quickly dashed inside.

"Wait, I'm coming with you," said Suichi, suddenly as Yumi turned to leave.

"No way! Besides, you'll only attract more trouble at school," said Yumi, crossing her arms.

"But it's my fault you lost your cell phone. Why don't I look in the park and you check the school. That way, we can cover more ground without others interfering," said Suichi.

Yumi frowned and thought it over. She didn't see anything wrong with his reasoning and she really needed to find her cell phone in case the others needed to reach her.

"Okay."

They were just about to run off when they heard Kokoda scream from inside the house. There were sounds of breaking china and a chair was suddenly thrown through the living room window.

"Get down!" shouted Suichi, covering her with his body as glass rained down on them.

Yumi's mind was racing. What was going on in there? Was Kokoda being attacked? At this time of day, her whole family should be home. If Kokoda was being attacked then so was the rest of her family!

"Kokoda!" Suichi rushed up the porch steps and yanked open the front door.

"Wait, Suichi!" Yumi ran after him and entered the room just as a knife barely missed her face and embedded in the wall on her right.

Yumi stumbled back against the door.

That had been too close!

She turned to see Suichi's mom holding a butcher knife and waving it wildly in the air. Suichi was trying to restrain her but she was overpowering him. Her eyes had gone white and static was rolling off of her, making her long black hair stand up on ends.

_ No way! A second Xana attack on the same day?_

Yumi glanced around the room and spotted her mom and dad lying unconscious on the living room floor. It didn't look like they were hurt but Kokoda, on the other hand, was lying by the stairs with blood trickling down the side of his face. Yumi spotted Hiroki frozen with fear at the top of the stairs as Suichi battled with his mother for the knife.

"Hiroki, go to your room and lock the door!" shouted Yumi, which caught the Xana-possessed Shiori's attention.

"Rawr!" she growled and threw Suichi off of her. He landed next to his brother and grimaced in pain as his head hit the stairs.

"Yumi…" Hiroki whimpered, his legs trembling with fright.

"Do as I say, Hiroki! And call the ambulance!" shouted Yumi, turning her attention to her aunt.

"Hey, you want me? Come and get me!" Yumi then turned and ran out the door, glancing back only to make sure her possessed aunt was following her.

"Yumi!" called Suichi from the stairs

"Take care of everyone. I'll be okay!" shouted Yumi as she ran for the park. She still had Suichi's cell phone in her hand and used it to call Jeremy.

"Jeremy, What's going on?"

"Yumi! Finally! I've been trying to reach you for ages! We're in a real tight spot this time. Xana's launched an attack –"

"I can see that," cut in Yumi as she continued to run. "Xana's possessed my aunt and injured my cousin, Kokoda. Suichi's looking after him but I don't know how badly he's hurt."

"Well, you better get to the Factory ASAP. A return to the past won't bring Kokoda back if he dies."

"Got it. I'm on my way – Argh!" Shiori had tackled Yumi to the ground and the phone flew out of her hand.

"Yumi? Yumi!" came Jeremy's voice as the phone sailed through the air and landed in the streets where a passing car crushed it under its wheels.

Yumi tried to get up but her aunt was lying on her legs and she couldn't wiggle free. Yumi turned in time to see her aunt raising the knife over her head. She swung down but Yumi managed to catch her aunt's wrist in time as the knife hovered just inches from Yumi's face.

She struggled to hold back her aunt but the knife was getting closer and closer. She could feel the metal tip pierce her cheek and panic filled her heart. Blood dripped from the tiny wound and soon there was a thin trail of blood on the side of her face.

_I can't hold her off much longer…_

Yumi squeezed her eyes shut as her strength started to give way.

Suddenly, her aunt was thrown off her and Yumi let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding. She opened her eyes and saw Suichi standing over her. He dragged her roughly to her feet and pushed her forward, in the direction of the park.

"Run!" he snapped.

Yumi didn't think, she just ran with Suichi right beside her. She could hear her aunt roar something incomprehensible as the possessed woman gave chase once again, swinging the knife around.

Yumi hoped to lose the woman in the park and then join up with the others in the Factory, but they couldn't shake her off their tail.

"Follow me," said Suichi, grabbing her wrist and yanking her off the path and into the bushes. They ran in what felt like random directions until they couldn't hear Shiori's footsteps anymore.

Suichi pulled her behind a huge oak tree and they huddled together at the bass of the trunk, trying to slow their breathing and listen. After a minute of silence, Suichi peered around the tree and sighed with relief.

"Okay, we lost her."

"Thanks for the save back there," said Yumi as she took deep breaths to calm her pounding heart.

Suichi shook his head. "It was nothing." He turned to face her and his green eyes locked onto hers. "What is going on, Yumi. What happened to my mother?" His eyes were trained on her, serious and – scarily enough –deadly.

Yumi gulped as Suichi's whole demeanor suddenly changed. His eyes were cold and serious – but not the adult kind of serious. It was more of the life-threatening, I'll-torture-you-if-you-don't-answer-me serious.

"It's a long story and really hard to explain," began Yumi but Suichi cut her off.

"Then you better get started, Yumi."

Even his voice was cold… this was not the Suichi she that had introduced himself as her new cousin. This was someone else – someone dangerous.

"I – I don't have time. I need to get to the Factory," snapped Yumi, leaping to her feet. She decided to run off and hopefully lose him while she made her way to the secret entrance to the sewer. However, Suichi stuck to her like glue and somehow even managed to cut her off and corner her.

"If you're in a hurry then you should stop wasting time by trying to lose me and just take me to this 'factory' of yours," he said, arms crossed.

Yumi hesitated but after glancing down at her watch and realizing she'd wasted five precious minutes already, she gave in. "Fine, I'll explain on the way. Come on."

* * *

**oo00oo000oo00oo**

* * *

"Odd, you just lost twenty Life Points!" exclaimed Jeremy.

"Hey, I'm doing the best I can here! How about some backup?"

Jeremy shook his head. "It's no good. Ulrich isn't answering his phone and I got cut off from Yumi. I think she's being attacked by one of Xana's specters."

"Great, just what I wanted to hear. More bad news," grumbled Odd as he took out the last Creeper. "How's Aelita doing? Any progress?"

"No. She's being pinned down by three Tarantulas. I wish I knew where Ulrich and Yumi were –"

Suddenly the metal doors slid open and Jeremy looked up, hoping to see Ulrich or Yumi. Instead, he was shocked to see Ulrich's father standing with Ulrich hanging over his shoulder, unconscious.

"Ulrich! Mr. Stern, what are you –?"

The man lifted his hand and a ball of electricity shot out of it. Jeremy couldn't get out of the way in time and was blasted out of the chair and into the metal wall. He crumpled to the ground, paralyzed from the electricity and watched helplessly as the Xana-possessed man typed out some program before heading back into the elevator with Ulrich still hanging over his shoulder.

"Jeremy? Jeremy! Are you there?" called Aelita's worried voice. "What's going on, Jeremy?"

Jeremy managed to drag himself across the floor and back into the chair. By the time he hoisted himself up, it was too late for him to stop the program Xana's minion had started.

"Xana's possessed Ulrich's father," said Jeremy after putting his headphone on. He quickly shut down the elevator so Ulrich's father couldn't get back in and attack him. He then turned his attention back to what was going on in Lyoko.

"It looks like he just virtualized Ulrich somewhere in the Forest Sector. I'm trying to locate him right now…" Jeremy typed feverously and managed to track down his friend. "Got him! He's not far from where you are, Aelita. He's on the platform to your left and due south a little."

"Okay, I'll go to him," said Aelita, activating her wings and taking off.

"No wait!" exclaimed Jeremy as the radar started blinking in warning. "Xana's sent the Scryphozoa! Get away from there, Aelita!"

"But what about Ulrich?"

"Too late," groaned Jeremy as a new window popped up, showing Ulrich's memory being tampered with. "The Scryphozoa's got him and it looks like Xana's implanting a virus into his memory!"

"Wait that means that Xana's trying to possess Ulrich!" exclaimed Odd from Sector 5.

"Oh no! Aelita, get out of there!" ordered Jeremy.

"I'm trying, Jeremy but it looks like Xana's just virtualized a flock of Hornets!" exclaimed Aelita.

"This is insane! Xana's never been able to attack us like this before! Where is he getting all this power from?" exclaimed Jeremy. He began typing as fast as he could, searching for Xana's power source.

"Well, here's some good news. It's just me and the Mantas here in the core room," said Odd.

"You can't afford to lose any more Life Points, Odd. You need to get rid of them and get over to the Forest Sector to protect Aelita!"

"Trying, Einstein! I'm trying – Uh oh…"

"What? What is it, Odd?" asked Jeremy.

"William just appeared… and he doesn't look to happy to see me. Mind reloading me, Jeremy? I think I'm going to need every arrow," said Odd, gulping.

"You got it. Coming right up; just be careful, Odd," said Jeremy, typing in the commands to reload Odd's claws. Jeremy crossed his fingers and pressed the enter button, praying Odd could hold his own and still get to Aelita in time.

If only Yumi was here…

* * *

**oo00oo000oo00oo**

* * *

"Grab the rope and swing down!" ordered Yumi as she leaped off the metal platform and slid down to the first floor of the Factory. Suichi followed suite and landed lightly on his feet next to her. Behind them, they could her Shiori roaring like a monster as she jumped off the second story and landed in front of them, hands crackling with electricity.

"So my mother is possessed by a computer program named Xana?" asked Suichi as the two of them faced off against the woman.

"Yeah and the only way to free her from Xana's control is if we get Aelita to the activated tower on Lyoko so she can deactivate it," said Yumi, crouching into a defensive position. "I need to get to the elevator so I can go to the scanner room."

"All right. But first we need to disarm my mother and incapacitate her so she can't harm anyone else," said Suichi.

Yumi nodded. "Okay."

Suddenly, Shiori charged while swinging the butcher knife. Yumi and Suichi jumped out of the way and Yumi countered with a kick, sending the woman stumbling into a metal pole. The woman pushed off the pole and shot a ball of electricity at Yumi.

She managed to dive out of the way in time while Suichi countered for her by running up and swiftly disarming his mother. The knife clattered to the ground and Suichi kicked it as far away from his mother as possible. Suichi managed to hold her arms behind her back, immobilizing the woman. She growled in some inhuman voice and tried to shock Suichi but only ended up harming herself. The woman slumped as she knocked herself out.

Yumi let out a sigh of relief. "Well, that was easy." She quickly found some rope and tied her aunt up.

"Will that hold her?" asked Suichi.

"Not for long if she wakes up. Come on. We need to hurry." Yumi lead the way to the elevator and punched the down button. The metal doors clattered shut and the elevator descended deeper into the earth. They reached the computer lab and when the metal doors slide open, Jeremy's relived face greeted them.

"Yumi! Thank god you're here! We're in a huge heap of trouble and – why did you bring him?" asked Jeremy as he suddenly spotting Suichi.

"Xana attacked my aunt and Suichi helped me escape to the Factory. We had to deal with her before coming down but I'm ready to go, Jeremy. Just say the word."

Jeremy nodded. "Okay head to the scanner room Yumi. Aelita needs your help. You won't believe what Xana's done now."

"Let me guess, he's attacking the core and activated a tower?"

"Even worse than that – Xana's possessed Ulrich!"

"What?" exclaimed Yumi. "But how?"

"Xana possessed Ulrich's father and he brought Ulrich here. I suspect he'll be waiting for you in the scanner room so watch out," warned Jeremy.

"I'll accompany you. I'll hold him off while you get into the scanners," said Suichi calmly. For a guy who was suddenly thrust into a science fiction crisis, he was holding up rather well, noted Jeremy.

"Okay. Hurry up! Aelita can't keep running forever," said Jeremy, beginning to prep the supercomputer to transfer Yumi.

Yumi shut the metal doors and the elevator traveled down one more level to the scanner room.

"You ready for this?" she asked.

Suichi nodded. "Good luck, Yumi."

As soon as the metal doors opened, the possessed man attacked with a pipe. Yumi ducked and dived into the room while Suichi proceeded with distracting the man. He pulled the man into the elevator and hit the up button, locking himself and the man inside the elevator as it travelled up to the surface.

"Okay, Jeremy. I'm ready," called Yumi, stepping into the closest scanner.

"All right. Transfer Yumi. Scanner Yumi. Virtualization!"

As soon as Yumi appeared on Lyoko, she was fired upon by three Tarantulas. She retreated behind a tree and pulled out her fans.

"Hey, Jeremy. Where's Aelita?"

"She's farther south. She has four Hornets on her tail and Ulrich is hanging around the activated tower with those Tarantulas," informed Jeremy.

"All right. Where's my Overwing? I'll help Aelita, then we'll deal with Ulrich."

"Sorry Yumi but I can only give you the Overbike."

"That's fine. Just hurry up."

"Okay, one Overbike, coming right up!" The vehicle suddenly virtualized right in front of Yumi. She wasted no time and hopped on.

"I'm sending you Aelita's coordinates – due south six kilometers. Better step on it. Aelita's lost thirty Life Points already," said Jeremy.

The boy changed windows to check in with Odd. "Odd, how are things on your end?"

"Just dandy. William and me are having a blast! You should come and join us, Einstein."

"Be serious, Odd. What's going on?"

"Well, William and me are dancing but there's still three Mantas attacking the core. I'm not sure how long I can keep this up."

"Damn, if only Ulrich wasn't possessed," muttered Jeremy. "I'm sorry, Odd but there's no one left to back you up. You're on your own."

"What about Yumi?"

Jeremy checked the Forest Sector map. "She's busy taking out Hornets with Aelita. And they still have three Tarantulas and Ulrich to deal with."

Suddenly the metal doors slid open again. Jeremy panic, dreading who would emerge. No one had been devirtualized yet so it could only be bad news for him – and Jeremy was virtually defenseless right now!

But Jeremy soon found that he had been panicking for nothing as Suichi stepped out of the elevator. He had totally forgotten Yumi's cousin was still here.

"Oh thank god it's only you," said Jeremy. "Did you get rid of Ulrich's father that fast?"

Suichi nodded, his entire demeanor calm. "He's unconscious for now, see." The boy stepped aside and Jeremy spotted Mr. Stern's body lying on the floor.

"Wow, talk about fast work." Suichi came around the hologram and stood behind Jeremy's chair as Jeremy continued to try and find the source to Xana's current boost in strength.

"So this is the supercomputer Yumi was talking about," he muttered, surprised. "It's amazing. How did you come across it?"

"Look Suichi, as much as I'd love to recount how I found the supercomputer, I'm really busy right now," said Jeremy irritably. "Odd! You just lost ten more Life Points!"

"Hey! That Mantas took a cheap shot at me!" complained Odd.

"You friends seem to be in a great deal of danger," commented Suichi. "What exactly is happening on this _Lyoko_ world?"

"I don't have time to answer your questions, Suichi, so would you stop talking to me and let me concentrate," snapped Jeremy as his screen suddenly began beeping again. "Oh no, Odd! You're down to thirty Life Points!"

"Sorry Einstein but I could really, REALLY use some help over here! I don't know how long I can hold off Handsome here and the Mantas," said Odd.

"I told you Odd, there's no one else!"

Suddenly, Suichi cleared his throat. "May I offer you my assistance, Jeremy?" he asked.

"What? Send you to Lyoko? Are you crazy?" exclaimed Jeremy. "You don't know the first thing about fighting!"

"No offense, Jeremy but if he can take out Ulrich's Xana-possessed dad then I'd welcome his help right about now!" exclaimed Odd.

"But –!"

"Jeremy – Ow!"

"Odd!" Jeremy bit his lips as Odd's Life Points dropped even more. What should he do? Could he risk sending a novice in to help Odd? But in their current situation, Suichi was the only able bodied around and Odd did have a point. If Suichi could take out a possessed human in the real world then maybe he could be of some help on Lyoko – at the very least he could act as a shield for Odd.

Jeremy took a deep breath, hoping he won't regret this. "Okay fine. Get to the scanner room, Suichi. You're going to Lyoko."

Suichi nodded and quickly ran to the elevator. Jeremy typed in the program for virtualization and entered the functions into the supercomputer as Suichi's voice called into his headphone.

"I'm ready Jeremy."

"Okay. Get into the scanner and try to hang onto your lunch." Jeremy crossed his fingers as he pressed 'enter' again. "Transfer Suichi. Scanner Suichi."

The computer beeped as an unidentified ID window appeared on the screen.

Jeremy took another deep breath and prayed for a miracle.

"Virtualization."

* * *

**oo00oo000oo00oo**

* * *

"It's about time," muttered Odd as he took refuge behind a white pillar and watched as a new figure was virtualized in the air above him. "Hey, wait a minute…"

The figure who was supposed to be Suichi dropped to the ground but Odd scratched his head in confusion. This guy didn't look anything like Yumi's cousin from Japan. Where was the pretty boy red-head? The new guy had long, silver hair, gold sharp eyes, a pair of white, pointed ears and a long, silky tail.

"Hey, Jeremy, is this some kind of joke? Where's Suichi?" asked Odd.

"That is Suichi… at least I think it is," came Jeremy's slightly confused voice.

The guy was examining his body curiously, checking out his hands and feet. He was dressed all in white – white sleeveless tunic, loose pants, long sash, and cloth shoes.

"Fascinating," he muttered. "This is truly an extraordinary experience."

"Well, at least he _sounds _like Suichi," muttered Odd.

"I have no idea why he looks the way he does. The supercomputer analyzes someone's subconscious and creates the virtual self in Lyoko," explained Jeremy.

"So you're saying Suichi secretly dreams of being a white dog?"

"Fox," corrected Suichi, causing Odd to raise a brow. "Er, I mean, I think I'm a fox, not a dog."

"Right…"

"Odd, you guys don't have time to chat. The first shield around the core is about to give!" exclaimed Jeremy.

"Okay! Time for a crash course in combat on Lyoko," said Odd. "Lesson one: don't get hit by lasers or you'll lose Life Points. Lose too many and you'll be devirtualized."

Suichi nodded. "Understood."

"Lesson two: to kill the monsters, you have to hit the symbols on their head –every monster has one. You can't miss it. It's this bulls-eye looking thing that kind of looks like an eye."

"Okay. Anything else?" asked Suichi.

"Yeah. Where's your weapon? You're going to need it to beat the Mantas, which are those flying things up there," pointed Odd.

Suichi frowned and looked down at his outfit. "I don't see any weapons…"

"Try checking your pockets. Maybe it's hidden, like Yumi's fans or my Laser Arrows, see." Odd shot an arrow and managed to take out one of the Mantas. "Okay, time to get to work Suichi."

"Wait –!"

But Odd had already leaped out from behind the pillar to engage William in a fight.

"Suichi, you gotta get in there and take out those Mantas," said Jeremy. "If they destroy that last shield around the core, you can say good bye to Lyoko and yourself. You'll all be devirtualized for good."

"Well, that's reassuring. I wish he said that earlier," muttered Suichi as he continued to search his virtual body for his 'weapon'.

* * *

**oo00oo000oo00oo**

* * *

Kurama growled in frustration as his search turned up empty. He felt so disorientated and confused on this Lyoko world. For one thing, he was in his Yoko form and for another, his head felt stuffed – there was no scents in the air and that really threw him off balanced. As a Fox Demon, he relied heavily on his sense of smell to function. And it seemed that in this world, smell was nonexistent.

What's a fox to do, he wondered, but then it hit him. He was now in his Yoko form because that was his subconscious. The supercomputer detected his demon DNA and projected it here on Lyoko. It likely meant that his powers have also transferred into this virtual body of his.

"Suichi, what are you doing? Get going!" came the human boy's voice from the air.

Praying he was right, Kurama reached behind his head and, surprisingly, pulled out a rose that had been hidden in his hair. He smiled as he looked up at the flying Mantas. It was time to have a little fun…

Kurama leaped forward and poured his demon energy into the rose. "Rose Whip!"

The rose flashed with green light and transformed into a spiked green whip. Kurama swung his whip and the vines wrapped around one of the Mantas, dragging it crashing down. He spotted the symbol Odd had been referring to and quickly slashed across it with his whip. A crack of light emitted from the wound and the beast exploded in red light.

"Great job, Suichi! One Mantas down and one more to go!" exclaimed Jeremy.

"Hey, you're a natural!" smiled Odd as he did battle with a boy who wielded a giant sword. "Laser Arrow!" Odd fired five shots at the boy and three of them hit their mark. The boy roared as he exploded in a cloud of black dust.

"Well done, Odd. If you guys hurry and get rid of the other Mantas, you can go and help Yumi and Aelita," said Jeremy.

Odd and Kurama nodded. "Right."

Odd hopped onto a purple hover board and zoomed up to the Mantas while Kurama quickly climbed up the spiraling staircase. The two of them reached the monster at the same time and attacked in unison.

"Rose Whip!"

"Laser Arrow!"

The Mantas didn't stand a chance.

"Wahoo!" exclaimed Odd as he zoomed around on his hover board. "That was totally awesome!"

"Yes, great job now hurry up and get to the Forest Sector. We need to deactivate that tower!" said Jeremy.

"And how do we get to this Forest Sector?" asked Kurama, searching the room for a door.

"Hop on, Suichi. We're gonna fly there," said Odd as he came to hover beside him.

Kurama eyes the purple board hesitantly but shrugged in resignation and stepped up beside Odd.

"Hang on tight!" said Odd.

Kurama barely had time to grab onto the boy's shoulders as the vehicle took off, flying down and out the doorway. They emerged in empty space and Odd directed the board to fly upwards. It was then that Kurama noticed the room they'd just been in was actually a giant, metal sphere with four beams of light protruding from its equator.

"I'm opening the tunnel to the Forest Sector," said Jeremy. "In three, two, one…" Suddenly, one of the beams of light disappeared and a hole appeared in the wall. Odd flew them into the tunnel and white light enveloped them. When Kurama could see again, he discovered they were in some kind of forest with trees as tall as buildings, reaching to the sky. The green ground was in broken pieces, with huge gaps between platforms. It was a strange place – a forest unlike any Kurama had ever seen.

"Yumi and Aelita are twenty kilometers east of you guys. Better hurry, Ulrich and three Tarantulas are headed their way," informed Jeremy.

"On it Einstein," said Odd as he swung the board to the right. They flew at break neck speed and soon Kurama could see two figures on a distant platform, fighting off three flying bugs of some sort.

"By the way, those things are called Hornets," said Odd as he began firing his arrows at them. "Laser Arrow!"

The boy was a very good marksmen, noted Kurama as Odd's first arrow hit its mark and destroyed a Hornet. The others broke off from attacking the girls and came after them.

"Uh oh."

"Let's draw them away," said Kurama.

Odd nodded. "Good idea. Hey, Uglies! Over here! Come and get us!"

The Hornets gave chase and Odd zoomed in between the trees, trying to lose them. Kurama held on tightly, not wanting to be thrown off. The bugs soon began firing on them with the lasers located on their stingers. Kurama grunted as one of the lasers hit him in the shoulder, causing pain to erupt from the wound.

"Argh!" Kurama looked back to see if he was bleeding but found that the only sign of damage was that his shoulder blade seemed to be crackling with electricity. There was no gaping wound or blood – it was very strange.

"Hey Odd, stop messing around. You're not going to be any help to the girls if you both get devirtualized by those Hornets. Don't forget we still have Ulrich and the Tarantulas to deal with," reminded Jeremy.

"You worry too much, Jeremy," said Odd confidently. "Okay, hang on Suichi. Time to go vertical!"

Odd suddenly lifted the board up and around, causing them to summersault over the Hornets. Kurama watched in awe as the boy fired off two more arrows, effectively destroying the bugs, before righting the board again.

"And two more bite the dust. Not bad, right Suichi?" Odd smirked.

Kurama nodded as suddenly, a laser hit Odd from behind.

"Ow! What the –!" The boy was hit again and Kurama watched with fascination as the boy disappeared into tiny pieces of blue light. The second the boy was completely gone, Kurama felt himself wobble on the hover board.

"Oh no! Odd!" exclaimed Jeremy.

Kurama struggled to control the vehicle. It was slowly losing altitude and Kurama could see some spider-looking monster making its way towards him. It sat down on the forest floor and held up its two front legs, which began to glow. The monster then began to fire at him.

One of the lasers hit the board, throwing Kurama over. The fox acted on instinct and used his Rose Whip as a grapping hook, swinging safely onto the platform to face off against the new spider-monster.

"Phew. That was a close one. Nice job, Suichi," said Jeremy.

"What is that thing?" asked Kurama.

"It's a Tarantula. You should get out of there. It's a lot tougher than the other monsters you've faced. Try to get back to Yumi and Aelita but don't fall over the edge. If you fall into the Digital Sea, you'll be devirtualized forever!"

"Thanks for the warning," muttered Kurama. He used his Rose Whip to swing to another platform while dodging the Tarantula's lasers. He could see Yumi and Aelita now. Kurama ran to them but found another Tarantula and Ulrich between him and the girls.

"Suichi?" exclaimed Yumi in surprise. "What are you doing here?"

"Just lending a hand," Kurama shrugged. "Are you all right, cousin?"

"Yeah… for now." Yumi eyed the possessed Ulrich warily. His eyes were white with Xana's symbol flashing where his pupil should have been. "Ulrich! You have to wake up! Ulrich!"

"It's no use, Yumi. The only chance we have is to devirtualize him," said Jeremy.

"Easier said than done," said Yumi. She then threw her Tessen fans at him. Ulrich easily knocked them away with one of his katana. "Damn," muttered Yumi, catching her fans as they came back to her.

"Suichi, Tarantula at six o'clock!" exclaimed Jeremy.

Kurama whirled around to see the monster march up behind him, sit down and pointed its two guns at him. The Tarantula began firing on him rapidly. Kurama tried to block the lasers with his Rose Whip and was surprised to see that it worked rather well. His whip would glow every time it neutralized a laser – and thanks to Kurama's extensive use of this weapon through the centuries, he easily deflected the barrage of lasers the Tarantula sent his way.

"That's amazing," breathed Jeremy. "You blocked every one of those lasers!"

Kurama smirked to himself. If the human thought his whip-wielding ability was amazing here in the virtual world then the fox wondered what the boy would think if he found out Kurama could do this in real life too. But of course, Kurama had no intention of sharing _that_ little secret with anyone – especially with this band of mortal children.

_All right, enough fooling around. Time to end this._

"Rose Whip!" The whip shot forward and sliced off the Tarantula's forearms. Then Kurama brought his whip around again and took off the beast's head, causing it to blow up and vanish.

When Kurama turned his attention back on the others, he found Yumi engaging Ulrich in a fight while Aelita was flying in the air with pink wings on her back and avoiding the last Tarantula's lasers. Kurama sprinted forward and snuck up on the Tarantula. He leapt onto the monster's back and used his whip like reigns to control the beast.

"Yumi, move!" snapped Kurama, turning the beast to point its lasers at Ulrich. The monster fired off several rounds of lasers, catching Ulrich off guard and knocking him backwards several paces.

"Nice one, Suichi!" said Jeremy. "Yumi, hurry and finish him. He only has forty Life Points left."

"Hiyaa!" Yumi's fans hit their mark and Ulrich grunted in pain as he was devirtualized.

"All right, guys! Hurry Aelita and deactivate the tower. I'll go check on Ulrich and – Ah!" Jeremy's screams were cut off as a huge crash emited from the microphone

"Jeremy? Jeremy!" exclaimed Aelita, gazing up at the sky. "Answer me, Jeremy!"

"He must be in trouble. I bet Ulrich's dad and my aunt finally woke up," said Yumi. "Hurry up, Aelita. We can't waste anymore time."

Aelita nodded and flew off, in the direction of a white tower with a red aura hovering over it.

Kurama slashed his whip casually across the symbol on the Tarantula's head and hopped off just before the creature was destroyed. Yumi nodded as he landed next to her and they sprinted after Aelita.

"Do you think we'll make it in time?" he asked.

"Let's hope so," muttered Yumi.

The two of them reached the tower just as Aelita melted into the walls in a shimmer of blue light.

"Hang on, Jeremy. Aelita's almost there," whispered Yumi, praying her friends were safe.

* * *

**oo00oo000oo00oo**

* * *

Jeremy was struggling to breath as Yumi's aunt tried to choke the life out of him. His eyes were bulging in their sockets and he could feel his wind pipe collapsing. The boy clawed desperately at the woman's hands but he couldn't break her grip. Suddenly, Odd appeared behind her and hit her over the head with a metal plate. The woman grunted in pain and her hands released him.

Jeremy gasped and sucked in the much needed air as he rolled away from the woman.

"Over here, lady! Come and get me!" taunted Odd.

"Rawr!" The woman's hands began to crackle with purple electricity and she threw a ball of lightning at Odd. Luckily he dodged it in time or he would have been killed for sure.

"Dad! Stop it!" snarled Ulrich as he tumbled around on the ground with his father. He managed to kick the man off of him and scramble away. The three boys backed up together as the two possessed adults closed in on them. Both pairs of hands began crackling with electricity and they combined their powers, forming a giant ball of lightning.

If they got hit with that there wouldn't be anything left of them, thought Jeremy. The three of them back up until their backs were to the wall and found that there was no where they could go.

"This is it, guys," gulped Odd.

"Can't say it wasn't nice knowing you," said Ulrich.

Jeremy nodded and closed his eyes, bracing for Death to come and take him. But when nothing happened, Jeremy opened his eyes to see the adults' eyes roll up into the back of their head and then they collapsed.

"Hah! Aelita did it! She deactivated the tower!" cheered Odd.

"Yeah, just in time too," said Jeremy with one hand over his pounding heart. He'll never get used to all these close calls, no matter how many times he experienced them.

"Hey Jeremy, better hurry before these two wake up and start asking questions," said Ulrich, jerking his thumbs to the stirring adults. They were slowly coming to, clutching their throbbing heads and groaning in pain.

Jeremy quickly hopped back into the chair in front of the supercomputer and called up the program he needed.

"Get ready guys. Return to the past, now!" Jeremy pressed 'enter'.

"Return to the past? What does that mean?" asked Suichi, confused.

Yumi chuckled. "You'll see," she said just as white light enveloped them.


End file.
